DAY 1: Cailin & Lucas’s Honoring-the-Motherland Wedding, Fukuoka, Japan
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Shot ALL in 35mm and medium format film!
I’m so excited about sharing these photos, I’m making 2 posts for the 2 days I spent with both of them in Lucas’s motherland. Ceremony photos will soon follow.
In 2019, Cailin & Lucas hired me to photograph 2 wedding celebrations (one in Japan, the other in Baltimore). But COVID came for us, we postponed, and then finally brought our plans to fruition this past December 2022 when Japan’s borders reopened.
The first day together we spent at Lucas’s childhood home/family farm, his grandparent’s home next door, and a small shrine that is maintained by the community that was a short walks away. Lucas lost his grandfather some years ago and really wanted to document these places, along with his Grandmother, that rest so so close to his heart.
I feel the kinship today as vividly as I did during that initial booking call back then. I drew from my own similar personal experiences as we talked about our multi-cultural identities, Place, grief, and what it is to honor and care for the elders who raised us. At the time, I was still processing a visit I had taken to my own motherland (Cuba) and grieving the passing of my mother. These connections are *everything*, and I know the value in documenting and archiving what you have now before any more time slips away.
This is what I feel a big part of my work is about (whether in my photography business or in my artwork): to capture the power and meaning of Place and trace the family/community line that roots you there as our identities stretch through time.
Thank you to Cailin & Lucas for trusting me with this work. I will carry this deeply fulfilling experience for the rest of my days on earth. Big, big love to you both, and see you in Baltimore soon enough!
“Gina stood out to me for her photojournalistic style and use of film, her portfolio appearing effortlessly beautiful and authentic. We had originally reached out to document our US wedding in 2020. We were also having a small ceremony in Japan with family and she offered to shoot that as well. After having to postpone for almost three years, Gina checked in periodically and was available and willing to shoot our wedding in December 2022. She was phenomenal at navigating two different cultures and understanding the importance (and awkwardness) of our families meeting for the first time. And all of the photography was beautiful! Many people I've shown our photos to say they are the best wedding photos they've seen. She was kind, attentive, flexible, and extremely generous. We are forever grateful that we have this gorgeous documentation to remember our day by. We cannot recommend her enough!” — Cailin & Lucas
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