"Kiss & Tell" at Bushwick Country Club

Sitting at the table directly across from the brightly lit photo booth at Bushwick Country Club, I couldn't help thinking, "This whole bar must have been able to see everything..."

As part of my ongoing photo project "Kiss & Tell," I ask friends, acquaintances, and strangers to tell me the story of a memorable place they have had an intimate encounter.  My idea behind the project is that often the most memorable part is not the person you are with, but the space in which the act takes place.  Whenever possible, I take the storyteller back to the scene of the crime to hear their story and take a photograph.

This is how I found myself sharing a beer at Bushwick Country Club on Wednesday night listening to a friend (all storytellers remain anonymous) tell me one of the best stories I have heard in a while:

"He and I had slept together before.  We were at a friend's house nearby hanging out and drinking, of course.  As the night went on, we were getting closer and closer.  I was playing with his hair at one point.  We were supposed to come to this bar with a group of people, but we left early.  This was the same night I became a Country Club member.  If they still have that sign-in book, our names would be in there.  It was just he and I and one other guy who was a friend of his.  This guy sat at the end of the bar right next to where it all happened...

The bar wasn't crowded and since we were being loud and goofy, I knew the bartender noticed us.  So we go into the photo booth together.  I thought we were just going to take some pictures.  We start kissing before the first flash even goes off.  He must have had me pressed against the wall or something because in the strip of photos, you can only see the top of our heads in the first frame and the next three frames are empty.  I think he still has the strip of photographs.

The sexual tension was unbearable.  Then my pants were coming off.  It felt like I was alone with him in what, at the time, felt like a private enough space.  Then my underwear was off and on the floor outside the photo booth.  At that point, I realized I could hear people out in the bar saying, "ohh...her underwear..."  We had sex with me sitting on his lap facing him.  Fun.  Quick.  It was a break in the tension more than anything else. 

Afterwards, I made him go grab my underwear for me and heard the bar congratulating him.  I got dressed and came out.  You must have been able to see me naked right through that curtain.  Then the bartender said, "Looks like you just christened the photo booth."  And on the bar waiting for us were two shots of whiskey and two cigarettes."

More stories and photographs from "Kiss & Tell" are available on my website http://www.saramacel.com.  If you have a story you'd like to share, please email me at sara@saramacel.com.  All photos by Sara Macel, 2009.