DP Photo Challenge: transient, take 2

/ Su Leslie
Bride being prepared for her wedding photo shoot by make-up artist. Circular Quay, Sidney, Australia. Image: Su Leslie, 2015

Bride being prepared for her wedding photo shoot, Circular Quay, Sidney, Australia. Image: Su Leslie, 2015

On the transience continuum, it seems to me that wedding photos probably fall towards the “permanent” end. They are often professionally commissioned, expensive, and record one of life’s Big Moments.

So what I like about these photos is that they capture the transient moments behind the scenes; the stylists and photographers whose presence is essential, but of necessity,  invisible.

Bride being prepared for her wedding photo shoot, Circular Quay, Sidney, Australia. Image: Su Leslie, 2015
Bride being prepared for her wedding photo shoot, Circular Quay, Sidney, Australia. Image: Su Leslie, 2015
Bride being prepared for her wedding photo shoot, Circular Quay, Sidney, Australia. Image: Su Leslie, 2015

In this case, there were a bunch of other brides and grooms, all with their own stylists and photographers, having their photos taken at the same time and place. They arrived  en masse — wedding photography tourism.

I found it a little sad that moments which would be permanently recorded as some of the most special in these couples’ lives were being shared only with relative strangers; transients.

Waiting for their turn; one wedding party is being prepared for their photo shoot, while another is being processed. Circular Quay, Sidney, Australia. Image: Su Leslie, 2015

Waiting for their turn; one wedding party is being prepared for their photo shoot, while another is being processed. Circular Quay, Sidney, Australia. Image: Su Leslie, 2015

Daily Post Photo Challenge | transient

37 thoughts on “DP Photo Challenge: transient, take 2”

  3. Pingback: Transient Rose | What's (in) the picture?

  4. I don’t get it—did they all arrange to be there at the same time? Or does this just happen all the time because that spot is such a great backdrop? I sure wouldn’t want to have been one of those brides, and if the location is so popular, it would be too much of a cliche for me as a bride!

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    • They all arrived in a bus together. It’s an organised thing. I read that in China it’s customary for couples to have wedding photos taken before the wedding, and that increasingly some go overseas to beauty spots for the photos. There are obviously photography agencies or tour companies that specialise in this. Australia and New Zealand seem to be pretty popular destinations — I’ve seen mini-buses arrive at quite remote beaches in NZ and disgorge couples in wedding clothes with their photographers and stylists. Apparently though, Paris is still “the” place to go.

      I’d totally hate it, but I guess if it was the cultural norm for me, I might feel differently.

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    • Thanks Sarah. I thought it was the craziest scene! Since then I’ve seen other instances of wedding photo tourism — in Melbourne, and on beaches in NZ.

      I hope you have a great weekend, and that your arm tendons are recovered. xxxxxx

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        • I know exactly what you mean. I thought my knee was better after the pain a couple of days ago, and this morning it started hurting again. Grrr. I’m self-medicating with smoothies full of anti-inflammatory turmeric and beetroot. Yummy; but now I have yellow and crimson stained hands 😂😂

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          • If you´re into self-medication maybe you´re also interested in this: my mum currently tries out rosehips powder which is also anti-inflammatory and supposed to bring wonders to arthritis plagued sufferers. She´s got troubles with her lower back and the hip. A friend of her recommended it to her. You only need to take 1 teaspoon a day with a glass of water, but it takes a couple of weeks until you start to feel better. If you google it you will find more about it. So far she´s taken it only for two weeks now, which is too short a time to tell, about 4 or 6 is what it needs mostly to show. Another thing is brown millet, that´s what I´m experimenting with at the moment, because of my sinews etc. Have a look at both 🙂 And healing wishes for you knee!!! 🙂 xxxxxxxxx

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          • Thank you so much for this Sarah. I definitely prefer natural ways of healing over pharmaceuticals. I didn’t know about rosehips as an anti-inflammatory — or millet for that matter. I like the idea of both of them. Turmeric is good; but I really need to wear gloves when I cut it. At the moment my fingers look like I must smoke about 40 cigarettes a day! xxxxx 🙂

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          • That´s a good point. Try to see if you can get powder from rose hips without the seeds – I tried the stuff my mum bought (with seeds) and got a funny feeling in my mouth, it can cause allergic reactions I think, the seeds that is. Next time she´s going to order powder that´s consisting only of the peels. 🙂 xxxxx

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          • Definitely better now, thanks, Su. But I still have to be cautious and never overdo it when I feel them starting to get taut.
            How´s your knee doing? I guess winter is always worse for it. Wish you a beautiful weekend! xxxxxxxx

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          • I’m glad you’re feeling better and know the warning signs.
            My knee is still a bit sore. I’ve got some exercises to do, and am meant to replace walking with time on the exercise bike. That’s pretty boring and I’m not as diligent as I should be.
            Hope you are having a great weekend. xxxxxxxx

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          • Can´t you replace the exercise bike with a real one? Or would that put too much strain on it if the terrain is uneven?
            I´ve got the same problem about being diligent with my exercises – as soon as you start to feel better, you forget all about them 😉 And then BAM! – you start all over again… it really takes a while to insert it into your daily routines. How about swimming? That´s supposed to be a real blessing on all the joints. Like water gymnastic etc. ?
            Have a wonderful day! xxxxxxxxx

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          • I suspect that swimming (or at least water-based) exercise may turn out to be the best for me. I tried to find aqua exercise classes at the pools nearby, but struggled with the timetables.
            I’m a bit of a coward about actual biking. We don’t have many cycle lanes, and here cars are definitely king. Even T doesn’t cycle on the road. He goes mountain-biking — and that is so not my thing!
            Hope you are having a great week. 🙂 xxxxxxx

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          • So all you need to do is build your own swimming pool then! 😉
            I can understand that biking looses a lot of attractiveness when there not enough lanes, that’s actually why I bike on the pedestrian lanes often but only when there aren’t a lot of people using it. Never did mountain biking though my bike actually is one!!! But then there are no mountains around here so that’s that 😂
            Xxxxxxxxx

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    • I totally agree. I can’t help thinking that instead of travelling to another country with only your future spouse and a bunch of strangers, you could have the photos taken on a green screen, and exotic backdrops photo-shopped in. That way there would be more money to spend enjoying the wedding with friends and family. I guess that shows my very specific cultural values though; I would only really enjoy something like that if my friends were around to share in it with me.

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