Minangkabau Wedding

My Photo scholarship 2010 entry

Indonesia | Friday, October 15, 2010 | 5 photos

I don’t like to admit it, but I’m 42. Three years ago I became a grandmother to an awesome little girl named Hayleigh. Before Hayleigh came along, I had a midlife crisis (I think I sensed big changes were afoot). I left my job as a magazine editor in Vancouver, Canada, sold everything, and, determined I wasn’t too old to start again, set out to explore the world and become a travel writer. I knew I wouldn’t make much money at it, and I don’t—actually, I’m now an English teacher in Sumatra, a place I fell in love with in my travels throughout Asia.

Photography is the perfect and equal partner to travel writing, and to get a more complete picture of the world I saved my rupiahs and upgraded to an SLR camera, aiming to express through photos what words often cannot, like the hilarity of a Thomas Leaf monkey with punk rock hair or the sweetness of Muslim schoolgirls sharing a laugh over their noodle soup.

My hope is that my work touches other people…and that Hayleigh will be proud of her “cool” grandma who had the guts to get out there, explore, and prove it’s never too late to learn and grow. I thank WorldNomads for the opportunity to enter the Travel Photography Scholarship contest in my effort to achieve these goals.

I took these photos of a Minagkabau wedding procession at Lake Maninjau, West Sumatra. Minangkabau culture is unique, being both Islamic and one of the world’s last matriarchal societies. During the procession the bride, escorted by her dancers, and the groom his drummers, slowly move towards each other. To the accompaniment of joyful drumming and ritual movements welcoming the groom, they finally join, and, with their families, enter the bride’s house to start their lives together.