Sunday, 26 June 2005 | Wedding

The males were dressed in kilts, and the majority of them had accents that curled up at the ends like Christmas ribbon. The priest seemed bashful when I turned the camera on him, but later he asked whether I had any photos of him wearing his robe, and could he have a copy. The little boys, one of whom was dotted with stale chicken pox, brightened when they saw me focused on them, and the staff shrugged and smiled when I turned in their direction. People went out of their way to be friendly to me, sometimes asking questions about my camera, mentioning how tired I must be, or suggesting that I eat something, have a drink, relax.

The day started in a hotel room, where the bride and her sisters got ready while I documented their progress. Later, at the church, I crept around the sides of the sanctuary dressed like a burglar, and tried to take as many photos as possible without being noticed. Also at the church: I accidentally dipped a few strands of my hair in holy water. I was using an innocent-looking post as a makeshift tripod, and when I tilted my head down to look through the viewfinder, my hair soaked up a gulp of the blessed liquid. (As soon as my hair got heavy enough for me to notice, I bolted upright, looked around for witnesses, and waited to get struck by lightning.)

The bride and groom took a yellow cab to the reception. I sat next to the driver and positioned my camera at the edge of the partition window, reluctantly intruding in the newlyweds' sole moment 'alone' together. When they eventually climbed out of the cab decked out in wedding attire, random pedestrians gathered around them and began to applaud and whistle.

Toward the end of the reception, I could feel the muscles in my right hand beginning to cramp, but I had no idea what was in store for me today. Somehow, every single muscle in my body has turned against me, making it hard to even sit, or lie down, or think. Who knew, that taking photos for 8 hours was more of a workout than, say, actual exercise? It doesn't make any sense to me.