It's about Love.
It's about Community.
It's about Healing.
The heart-lifting effort to collect 10,000 photographs of the affectionately-inclined from around the world.
MICHAEL SKOGLUND is a “Hunter” as opposed to a “Gatherer,” a useful skill for a Smooch! volunteer to have during a slow shoot. Smooch! Hunters like Michael are comfortable approaching strangers and encouraging them to participate. Smooch! Gatherers (like me) prefer engaging with only those peeps curious enough to step forward to ask for more info. During his first shoot, I well remember asking Michael to do what he could to find more participants as I turned to photograph the few people already in line. A few minutes later, I turned back to see if there were any more candidates. I’m sure my jaw literally dropped. More than 15 people were waiting to be photographed. Behind them stood a beaming Michael. Happily, I was kept very busy for the entire shoot. This I know: Michael truly loves The Smooch! Project. He first heard about it from his mom (my sister) in 2007 while stationed in Iraq, where he served as an Army Staff Sergeant and participated in more than 350 missions. He checked out the website and told me later, “It touched me so much to see all those beautiful faces while I was in an ugly part of the world.” I chose Michael luvs Unhappy Kipper as his archive pic because the photo made me smile. That big old dog so disliked being made to sit on top a table during the photo shoot, he registered his protest by lying down and going limp on us. I loved the patient suffering streaming from those beautiful soulful eyes as Michael struggled to lift the dog’s head high enough to smooch. Of course, there’s much more to Michael than simply Kipper. Click here to see a beautiful 2010 archive photo of two of his kids or here for a 2011 Smooch! Sandwich shot of his entire family. Michael worked two shoots, handily earning his Smooch! Hero status twice over. Thanks so much for your help, nephew! I very much appreciate you. Smooches to you and all your beautiful family!
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