Rainy season, it has to be said, isn’t the nicest time of year. The humidity ramps up enormously, and, as the name suggests, it tends to rain rather a lot. Yet despite such unpleasantness, June is a popular month to get married in, and probably just as popular as a venue is Tokyo’s Meiji Shrine. A money making machine that at the weekend sees up to around 15 weddings in a single day.
Given the surroundings and the ceremonial outfits, the public procession element of each service is quite the spectacle. An aspect that used to garner a huge amount of attention due to the shrine being a popular tourist spot, but it was just me and a young family watching on Saturday. One of the many very visible changes of the world we now live in. A new world in which this young couple are starting a new life in. But it’s a journey they are embarking on together, and one that started out in some style to say the least.
dot says
This is a beautiful photograph… It feels intimate and gentle, things I am not sure would be found had there been a crowd of onlookers.
Your picture brought a smile to my face… Thank you for that.
Lee says
Thank you. Yes, it looked and felt very different. Not quite the spectacle it would have been, but like you said, much more gentle and intimate.
You are very welcome. Lovely to hear it had that affect.
john says
Different outfits but there’s some coordinated footwork going on there!
I like how you’ve included the shadow of the red umbrella in the frame and also and the family taking shade.
Lee says
The footwork was probably as carefully planned as everything else!
Cheers. I wanted the shadow in the frame, but at the time not the family. Glad they are now though. Definitely a nice addition.
dot says
The family is such an interesting detail, really. As someone who gets annoyed when intrusive elements invade my pictures—details which I feel destroy the starkness or contrast I was after—I completely sympathize with your initial reaction to them being there.
Though it all bends with the context, doesn’t it? Their presence brings forth the intimacy of the event, it ‘proves’ that this was not theatre, not a display, but a gentle ceremony… This is an honest photograph, the involvement of the detached family proves it to be so.
I love that they are there, I truly do. They take this photograph to places their absence would have otherwise denied.
Lee says
Yes, it really does. I was surprised what a difference they make. So different from my initial reaction.
And thanks, it’s very interesting to hear your take on the photo, and the difference they made to your impression of it.
Jenn says
Beautiful and the groom looks so proud! 🙂
Lee says
Yes, he does, doesn’t he? Making the most of his big day!
john says
Once in a lifetime? Seen and not seen?
and you may find yourself next to two beautifully dressed women, walking in step and with similar faces
and you may not notice that you are not
Lee says
And yet not a single talking head…
john says
non visible anyways :O)
I wish them well!
cdilla says
Marvelous accent to a great photograph.
Made me watch the video.
Top comment: “i tried dancing like this in a club once as a joke and the bouncers kicked me out”
Darkly current comment: “And you may find yourself, in front of a supermarket shelf, and there is no toiletpapper, and there are no noodles, and you ask yourself, how did i get here?!”
john says
It’s just madness, and the bouncers probably thought the same!
Lee says
Haha, probably quite rightly they were having none of it!
I do like the coronavirus version. Fits perfectly.