Rocco Morabito – The Kiss of Life
Rocco Morabito won the 1968 Pulitzer Prize for Spot Photography for this photograph – “The Kiss of Life.”
Apprentice lineman J.D. Thompson is breathing life into the mouth of another apprentice lineman, Randall G. Champion, who hangs unconscious after receiving a jolt of high voltage.
Morabito was driving on West 26th Street in July 1967 on another assignment when he saw Champion dangling from the pole. He called an ambulance and grabbed his camera.
Champion recovered.
In 2000, Rocco Morabito, at the age of 79, said, ”I get requests all the time from people who teach mouth-to-mouth resuscitation and have proof that it works. I am proud of that.”
© All rights reserved by Rocco Morabito, Jacksonville Journal (no longer in publication), and whomever else might own the copyright to this photo.
Jacksonville Journal on Wikipedia
I added some information to the Wikipedia article on him April 7, 2009:
Rocco with his famous photograph:
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Commentary: I originally saw a large (maybe 28 inches wide and 36 inches tall) print of this photo several months ago during a touring exhibition of all the Pulitzer Prize winning photos since the 1940s. I had never seen the image before, so when I first encountered it, it was striking (especially in such a large scale).
There are no homosexuals in the picture (to the best of my knowledge). And I doubt Morabito, in the instant of taking the photo, had the intent to frame homosexual symbolism in a positive context. But the photo did suggest this question in me:
If after clear and patient analysis, it became apparent that homosexual actions would help someone close to you over the long term, would you have enough independent knowledge, education, and courage to attempt the option?
Or would your training and conditioning preclude you from even considering the option?
Yesterday, Veronica commented about the common programming so many of us receive. Her comment arose in response to yesterday’s post of beautiful, loving, & intimate photos by Heather Corinna. She highlighted that so many of us are taught that many sexual actions are obscene or filthy long before we experience them for ourselves, long before we discover whether or not they are pleasant or healthy for everyone involved.
Love requires courage and independent investigation. I think love is more concerned about quality of character than it is about gender.
Most people, including many homosexuals, believe that sexual or loving desires for someone of the same sex are something that is genetically predisposed. That may be true often. But love or sexual desire for someone of the same sex can also arise out of carefully reasoned and chosen decisions, chosen against most the familial and cultural instructions a person has received growing up.
My social and educational experience has suggested to me that the more empathetic and intelligent a person is, the more likely they are to be drawn to other specific people by the quality of a specific person’s character than simply by their gender. Gender either does not remain a discriminating factor, or it loses its importance as an excluding factor. The more well read and the more educated in literature and the arts a person is, the more likely (on average) a person is able to understand someone who chooses homosexual or bisexual actions as a considerate and compassionate option.
Here are books on related topics:
Closer to Home: Bisexuality & Feminism (Women’s Studies/Gay Studies)
by Elizabeth Reba Weise
Dual Attraction: Understanding Bisexuality
by Martin S. Weinberg
Current Research on Bisexuality
by Ronald C. Fox
I have written reviews of all 3 books on Amazon. The reviews can be read by going to the “Amazon Reviews” link in the right column of this page, then paging down to the last page of reviews (because the 3 reviews above were some of the first I wrote on Amazon).
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2 comments so far
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Dear Sia:
“I think love is more concerned about quality of character than it is about gender.”
Nice.
I smile when I think about a crowded street scene, filled with people. Imagine for a moment that we could see into the nature of someone’s character as they stroll down the sidwalk, as easily as we can see the shape of their face. Its fun to think about a beautiful PERSON walking down the street, turning heads, causing people to bump into each other, etc., leaving in their wake a stream of stunned onlookers – of both genders.
JG
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SIA: Thank you for sharing your lovely ideas.
Personally, I think it’s laughable that you’re interpreting a truly heroic and inspirational photo into homosexual terms. It’s an amazing photograph, and apparently a life was saved. It has nothing to do with the sexual orientation of either of the people in the picture. Yet, you seem to feel it’s appropriate to politicize and exploit an amazing photograph for your own means. I wonder what the “participants” would think of your efforts.
Besides that, I think anytime you bring sex into CPR, you’re doing a disservice to people in whole. Nobody who participates in CPR should have to worry about a potential photograph being used in sexual terms. He saved a life, he’s a hero, not a pawn to be used for your own agenda.
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OneMoreOption: Hi Kyle. I don’t believe I’ve had the pleasure of meeting you before. Welcome.
I appreciate your feedback and criticism.
In my commentary above, I clearly stated “There are no homosexuals in the picture (to the best of my knowledge). And I doubt Morabito, in the instant of taking the photo, had the intent to frame homosexual symbolism in a positive context.”
I imply from your comments that you would like no one to make any visual sexual associations with lifesaving actions. That is a fair criticism. You believe it is a disservice to ordinary people to make any sexual associations, homosexual or otherwise, with a life saving action.
However, this blog is about “Sexuality in the Arts.” And one of the purposes of this blog is to discuss the interpretative or potential sexual considerations of artworks, whether or not there was any intent on the part of the artist(s).
As to your implication that the participants might fear or be concerned about being considered to be in any way homosexual: My commentary spoke directly to that kind of common concern or fear. I suggested it would be wrong if someone’s fear of being considered homosexual prevented them from caring for someone of the same gender, whether in normal activities or life-saving activities.
I doubt that if the picture had been a white man saving a black woman (instead of one man saving another), and my commentary had instead been about interracial considerations, you would have raised similar interracial “agenda” criticisms. But I concede I could be wrong in my assumption about your intents.
As we both appear to agree that nothing in the photograph is homosexual, I appreciate you adding to the discussion of societal concerns and priorities.
If someone didn’t know the lifesaving context and history of the photograph (which I clearly shared in the post), the image, considered without contextual references, is very archetypal and symbolic, showing a courageous man putting himself at great risk to save another man – an amazing act of bravery, love, and kindness.
One of my suggestions is this: It should not matter whether or not the contextual information reveals the sexual orientation of the men involved. The kindness and caring of one man for his fellow man should be praised. And no one involved in simple or complex acts of human kindness towards other humans should have to consider or fear whether or not the person they are caring for is of one gender or another.
Your criticisms were well written, and they have merit. I appreciate them.