Yesterday (Saturday) we visited Vizcaya on Biscayne Bay. Vizcaya was built in the 'gilded era' of early 20th century by millionaire James Deering and is now a county-run museum/garden. With its European-styled architecture and formal gardens it is the perfect venue for Quinceañera photo shoots. We have been there several times before, but this time we went with the specific purpose of 'shooting the Quinceañera shoots' on a fair Saturday afternoon.
First, just a little bit about Quinceañera (pronounced: [kin.se.aˈɲe.ɾa]. It is a celebration of a girl's 15th birthday in Latin cultures and is hugely popular in Miami. It represents a girls transition from childhood to young womanhood and in earlier times announced her availability for marriage.
It is a big, and I am sure expensive, endeavor including a huge party, extensive wardrobe, and many photos. It is quite a show to see the girls with multiple changes of clothes and a entourage of family, friends and photographers. They almost always have a 'traditional' dress (which are always our favorites) along with several more contemporary outfits.
In the following photos I tried to capture some shots of the girls, but also shots of the 'production'.
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| Very traditional & pretty dress |
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| Train-carrier - look closely at the footwear under the fancy dress |
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| Hair & makeup |
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| Very non-traditional, but very cute! |
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| Wardrobe |
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| Contemporary little black dress |
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| With Dad? |
It is nice to see the continuation of tradition in these families - something that I think we could use more of in our culture. I am hopeful that these photos capture a little piece of this tradition and thankful that I completed the shoot without being accused of being a stalker or being punched out by a protective dad :-).
Tom Moored at Coconut Grove (Miami)
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