I had been working since 1995 as a wedding photographer particularly for Hindu weddings in the region of Central India. I would like to put a brief scenario of the task to build up the theme of coverage about my work.
The western wedding photography put its main focus on bride & groom, their inmate couple portraits & tenderness of Adam & Eve's relation. The candid & natural portraits are given most priority in the photo albums to build up the romantic pictorial story. This could happen because both bride & groom already know each other closely & are in inmate relation at the moment of wedding. Wedding makes their relationship complete. So the theme of Photobook for western weddings is mostly ' The two souls & the world around them'.
Weddings are considered as union of two individual families in Indian culture than thinking just about bride & groom. Every close family member is equally important as bride & groom in the function. Most of the weddings are arranged by the parents of bride & groom on the ground of matching their social status, similar caste , educational qualifications & professions. Priests also play a significant role in arranging the marriages.
'Intimacy between husband & wife' is considered strictly as private & in house activity in traditional Indian lifestyle. Its display in front of elders & public is not accepted as civilized act by the society. However with influence of western lifestyle & globalization, the Indian couples today have become much liberal about exhibition of their personal feelings in public. But still are under high social pressure during the wedding ceremony.
As a result; customs, traditional dress-ups, holy rituals, social gathering & both families become the most important targets to be emphasized in photography coverage. This makes the Indian wedding photography entirely different from western style of photography coverage.
We cannot simply club together everything like just 'Asian' to categorize the assignment. Asia is a huge continent with variety of races , religions & cultures. The prominent religions are Hindu [ particular in India & Nepal ], Muslims , Christians & Buddhists. Since weddings are integral part of culture & religion in Asia, we have to categorize accordingly. In India, most of the weddings are highly dominated by traditional Indian rituals despite of individual religions. e.g.You may find many Hindu rituals in Indian Christian wedding.
I would like you to know & understand this background of Indian wedding ceremonies before proceeding to the job.
The western wedding photography put its main focus on bride & groom, their inmate couple portraits & tenderness of Adam & Eve's relation. The candid & natural portraits are given most priority in the photo albums to build up the romantic pictorial story. This could happen because both bride & groom already know each other closely & are in inmate relation at the moment of wedding. Wedding makes their relationship complete. So the theme of Photobook for western weddings is mostly ' The two souls & the world around them'.
Weddings are considered as union of two individual families in Indian culture than thinking just about bride & groom. Every close family member is equally important as bride & groom in the function. Most of the weddings are arranged by the parents of bride & groom on the ground of matching their social status, similar caste , educational qualifications & professions. Priests also play a significant role in arranging the marriages.
'Intimacy between husband & wife' is considered strictly as private & in house activity in traditional Indian lifestyle. Its display in front of elders & public is not accepted as civilized act by the society. However with influence of western lifestyle & globalization, the Indian couples today have become much liberal about exhibition of their personal feelings in public. But still are under high social pressure during the wedding ceremony.
As a result; customs, traditional dress-ups, holy rituals, social gathering & both families become the most important targets to be emphasized in photography coverage. This makes the Indian wedding photography entirely different from western style of photography coverage.
We cannot simply club together everything like just 'Asian' to categorize the assignment. Asia is a huge continent with variety of races , religions & cultures. The prominent religions are Hindu [ particular in India & Nepal ], Muslims , Christians & Buddhists. Since weddings are integral part of culture & religion in Asia, we have to categorize accordingly. In India, most of the weddings are highly dominated by traditional Indian rituals despite of individual religions. e.g.You may find many Hindu rituals in Indian Christian wedding.
I would like you to know & understand this background of Indian wedding ceremonies before proceeding to the job.
