Monthly Snaphots

You know a park is a great place when people feel comfortable displaying affection for each other.

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t's easy to dismiss public displays of affection as simply a habit of starry-eyed lovers. But the truth is, witnessing affection in public tells us something profound about the place we are in. Think about it: How often do you see two people smooching in a parking garage? It's an unlikely occurrence because people tend to display affection only in places where they feel comfortable and at ease. That's why public spaces where we spot lots of kissing couples usually get very high marks from us.

Parks, more than other types of public space, allow people to come out of their shells and express themselves. So for our tail-end-of-summer tribute to parks, and in the spirit of this special parks issue of Making Places, we present a gallery of our favorite images depicting affection in parks.

Registered users of the PPS Image Database can view a slide show with more images of affection in parks.