"Matrimania": The Reverse Side of India's Luxurious Weddings

EVERY DAY PHOTOGRAPHERS AROUND THE WORLD looking for new ways to tell stories or to capture what we previously did not notice. We choose interesting photo projects and ask their authors what they wanted to say. This week we are publishing the project of Mahesh Shantaram, a wedding photographer from India, who decided to show the reverse side of a traditional wedding - mystical and gloomy.

Makhesh Shantaram

wedding photographer from india

Traditional wedding is the life of India in miniature: there is a place for joy and sorrow and a broken heart at the same time. When I shoot weddings to order, I create a festive atmosphere where the sun always shines - "Matrimania" also shows the opposite side of what is happening. This is a kind of Gotham from "Batman": there is always night and anything can happen. I have been involved in this project for six years,

engaging more than a hundred celebrations; and although the story turned out rather fictional, you can easily find its components at any Indian wedding. In addition, this format makes "Matrimania" similar to the novel and adds depth, which simple reporting lacks. I'm not trying to extol traditions - for me this is a social project.

In India, a wedding is a family event rather than a celebration for those who marry. This is an occasion for parents and grandparents to show their power and status, so they invite absolutely everyone. And they take these invitations very seriously - people are ready to cross the oceans just to attend the celebration; and all these guests need to be fed and entertained. The wedding is perhaps the most high-profile event in the life of a single family, so that the young father begins to postpone him from the moment he learns that he will have a daughter. And the way this tradition influences society cannot be underestimated: we live in a country with a population of one billion people, which develops with difficulty. The roots of all our social and economic problems go back to the wedding culture: treating a woman as a property, the omnipresent caste system, and even the current balance of payments deficit.

I started doing wedding photography ten years ago, after studying in Paris. I liked the way it was shot in the States — at the same time there was nothing like this in India. I was able to build on this career; I am especially often approached by Indian Americans who come to their historic homeland to celebrate a wedding. I grew up in Bangalore - then a small town, now a megapolis of eight million people - and my view of India was very limited. Starting to shoot the festivities, I could not even imagine what was waiting for me: I was able to closely examine the country, far and wide, plunging into cultures so different from my own. I saw India with new eyes, starting to shoot and “for myself” - this is how Matrimania was born. Since then, I have implemented several Pandinand projects, including those affecting a unique political situation and racism in India.