This is a portrait of a Javanese bride from Indonesia. The model I had arranged the day before for this shoot couldn't make it, so the lady from whom I rented the wedding attire suggested I go to a local high school to find a girl. My wife and I spoke to the principal, who agreed, and he took me from classroom to classroom, interrupting the teachers, until I found this young lady. I said to the principal, shouldn't we get her parents permission? He said, no, that's not necessary. Wow! So, we took this 15-year old girl out of school for 5 hours. She modeled three different outfits, and she was a superb model. She was so shy she wouldn't speak to me. Even though I speak some Indonesian, she would only nod or shake her head yes or no. The background is a traditional backdrop at weddings on the island of Java. What she is wearing on her chest and head are hand-sewn, live flower petals that took three women an entire day to make. I shot this with my medium format Mamiya RZ 67 before I went digital. The only illumination was a skylight in the home of the woman who rented the clothes. I used a tripod, and my settings were probably 1/60, f/8. I shot with Fujichrome Velvia 50.
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