KISSMEFORTYTIMESManifesto
Manifesto
Kissmefortytimes — International photography competition
There are images that stop time.
Not because they are perfect.Because they are true.
We are not looking for flawless technique.We are looking for the feeling.
That something we cannot explain.But we recognize.
An image can be born from chance.Chance belongs to photography.What matters is having seen it.Not having let it pass.
Some images are built like cathedrals.Every light intended.Every gaze directed.
And there are images stolen from reality.Raw. Alive. Irreplaceable.
One is not superior to the other.Both move us.Both belong here.
We do not want easy emotion.
We all know tears in the front row.We have seen the laughter that bursts.
What touches us more is the silent image.The one that unsettles without wounding.The one that questions without answering.The one you never quite recover from.
Beauty is not always where you expect it.
Kissmefortytimes was born in France.
The France of the gaze.The one that knows art does not explain — it reveals.The one that has always chosen rigor over comfort.
We carry that legacy.
Here, no one scores.We choose.
The judges do not know your name.You do not know theirs.There are only the images.
Excellence is rare.It must stay that way.
Submit the image that resists you.
Not the safest one.Not the most applauded.
The one you stopped at.The one you cannot quite explain.The one that asked something of you.
It exists.We are waiting for it.
Not just captured. Created.
Born in France. Built for the world.