While walking the streets of beautiful Cienfuegos, Cuba, I stumbled upon this elaborate Quinceañera photo shoot set up on the sidewalk, under the hot, midday, Caribbean sun.
As a photographer of many Westchester, New York Bat Mitzvahs, I was surprised at how elaborate this Quinceañera photo shoot was. The photographer was catering to two teenage girls at one time, with elaborate preparation happening on the sidewalk - hair and makeup stylists and fittings into...
more »While walking the streets of beautiful Cienfuegos, Cuba, I stumbled upon this elaborate Quinceañera photo shoot set up on the sidewalk, under the hot, midday, Caribbean sun.
As a photographer of many Westchester, New York Bat Mitzvahs, I was surprised at how elaborate this Quinceañera photo shoot was. The photographer was catering to two teenage girls at one time, with elaborate preparation happening on the sidewalk - hair and makeup stylists and fittings into frilly dresses for the girls. When ready, each girl walked down the block with the photographer and his lighting assistant to begin photographing in a hotel lobby. I was captivated and photographed behind the scenes.
It was striking, and troubling, that the girls weren't having fun and couldn't seem to let go of their dour faces. And, it didn't seem to help that the stylists and photographer seemed to treat them like mannequins - dolling up their hair, fitting them in hoop dresses, and with the photographer adjusting the girls' poses head position, hands, body angle - rarely speaking and not seeming to engage them to help them enjoy the experience. At one point, I mentioned this to a man who was videoing much of the goings on, holding a cell phone on a stick He turned out to be one girl's father. He told me he lives in Alabama and traveled to Cuba to arrange this big shoot for his daughter. He said the photographer is one of the best in Cuba and he was paying $600 for the long photography day. After the hotel lobby shoot she was still frowning, he noted.
"She doesn't realized she's only going to be fifteen once,' he demurred.
With the family split across the formidable U.S./Cuban ocean, I could only guess what deeper, underlying issues might be interfering with her feeling joy on this day.
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