Photomosaic: The World Begins With Every Kiss

What does a kiss sound like? Loud? Soft? Deafening? The mural by Barcelona photographer Joan Fontcuberta has become one of the most popular spots in the Gothic Quarter. This giant photographic mosaic, which posed a challenge to the artist and is like a jigsaw puzzle for the viewer, is made up of 4,000 tiny tiles printed with different images of moments of freedom arranged in 50 rows of 80 pieces each. When seen from a distance, the tiles, which resemble individual Polaroid photos, combine to form an image of two people kissing. Fontcuberta worked with the ceramicist Antoni Cumella, who comes from one of the foremost ceramics dynasties in Catalonia.

This vast mural is 8 metres wide and almost 4 metres high and is the result of an initiative launched by a local newspaper that asked its readers to send in snapshots based on the question: "What does living in freedom mean to you?" It was one of the many interventions in Barcelona in 2014 to mark the 300th anniversary of the military siege of the city in 1714. The artist draws one conclusion: love can also come from defeat.

The mural is located in Plaça d'Isidre Nonell, which is named after one of Pablo Picasso's most admired artists. And to complete the interpretation, a quote by the American writer Oliver Wendell appears alongside the mural: "The sound of a kiss is not as loud as that of a cannon, but its echo lasts a great deal longer".