‘Kiss of Death’ is a photographic representation of the life of Berber Theunissen. For a brief moment, it was idyllic: a loving young family with two children, a nice home in the eastern Netherlands, and wonderful trips. But six months after the birth of their daughter, disaster struck when Berber's husband Boy's back pain was diagnosed as metastatic, incurable cancer. Berber's camera captured everything, how family life changed and how at the same time the most mundane things simply continued.

Berber focuses her camera on everything that touches her personally, everything she loves. But also on what makes her vulnerable and insecure. The situations she has no control over. This varies from moments to emotions and memories – from portraits and still lifes to landscapes. Through photography, Berber can observe her life objectively and understand it better.

The photos in this book show Berber's transition to motherhood, followed by her husband's cancer diagnosis. Life and death have rarely existed so close together. The question that went through their minds during their nightmare: “Was our life too beautiful, too good, that this had to happen to us?”

Berber's work has a dreamy, serene style that often contrasts sharply with the subject matter. Even a photo of an unhealed surgical scar running the length of a back can be of a poignant beauty.