All too often we tend to live in our own little bubbles. Photographing that with which we are familiar. But every so often you get the chance to step out of that bubble and make friends with people of cultures different from your own. I’m pretty sure it’s referred to as ‘the spice of life’. Indri and Sid hail from Indonesia. A place that I admittedly know very little about. Their relationship started when they met at their best friend’s wedding. He was the best man and she was the maid of honor. From there they spent 5 years in a long distance relationship, during which only 3 months were spent together. As Sid tells it, “for some odd reason it worked out.” But as they say, absence makes the heart grow fonder. And to say these two are fond of each other would be an understatement. They show an appreciation for each other that, I can only assume, stems from their time apart. I met Sid at our local rock climbing gym (shout out to the good folks at Southern Stone!), and later got to know his fiance Indri when Sid helped me to build my first PC (I was in way over my head and I would still be trying to power that thing up if it wasn’t for him). It was during that afternoon of PC building that I started to realize that our cultures weren’t that different after all. I don’t know if it speaks for Indonesia as a whole, or if it’s just the hospitality of some good people. But just as it is with my Cajun culture, there’s no shortage of food or drink when hanging out with these two! So when it came time to do their engagement session I wanted nothing more than to provide them with the same level of hospitality and caring as they’ve shown me. So we headed out to Moncus Park (a place in which I am very familiar), then wrapped up the session at Parc Lafayette (a place I had never photographed at despite working there for over a year). Sometimes when it comes to photographing people it’s all about trying to make them as comfortable as they can be in an unfamiliar setting. Being in front of the lens doesn’t always come naturally, but I sincerely hope that I was able to show the same level of hospitality to these two as they have shown to me.
