Portrait of a Wedding Day (detail)

In Japan, newly weds and relatives pose for the camera to immortalise that fleeting moment of happiness, destined perhaps to become a distant memory. Yet a photo of harmony is a laborious task that needs to be reworked a hundred times over. The image of happiness and the actual subject must coincide perfectly. Alas, there is always a detail out of place, too much shadow here, too much light there, a disharmonious profile, a dog-eared collar, a badly-folded tie, an unexpected reflection, bodies too distant from one another, faces hiding other faces, and above all those defects that are all the more treacherous as they are invisible to the inexperienced eye, the awful crunching of the photographer’s steps on the meticulously raked gravel, as he positions and beautifies the increasingly tense and cramped guests. At last, everything is ready… (Yann Lardeau)