Photographer Aaron Favila has told the story behind one of his most special photos: a bride wading through floodwaters to enter a church and get married. The couple had been warned that the church might be flooded on their wedding day, but being from an area of the Philippines where flooding is common, they decided not to change their plans.
Favila, who has worked for nearly 30 years as a photographer for the Associated Press's Metro Manila bureau, says floods in the Philippines have become increasingly common. One July day, after spending the morning photographing the aftermath of a monsoon that had flooded large parts of Manila and surrounding areas, he returned to the office to dry off and eat lunch.
That's when she received a message from a photographer friend who was on assignment in Bulacan, the neighboring province. She had been photographing the historic Barásoain Church, which had been flooded, and as she was leaving, someone said to her, "Aren't you going to wait for the wedding?"
It seemed unbelievable to him that anyone would get married in those conditions, but the ceremony was scheduled to begin at 3 p.m. Favila had only an hour to get there. Even under normal conditions, the trip would have taken at least 40 minutes, but he immediately got into the car with the AP driver and drove to within a kilometer or two of the church. The water level was too high to continue driving.
Luckily, he managed to stop a rescue truck that was heading in the same direction. Along the way, the truck stopped frequently to pick up people who needed transportation. Favila helped the rescue team load them into the vehicle, but inwardly, he was only thinking about getting there faster, for fear of missing the highlight of the wedding.
When the truck stopped near the church, he was still about 100 meters from the entrance. In front of the doors he saw a white figure and immediately realized that it was the bride, ready to enter. He hurriedly entered the water and reached her just moments before the church doors opened.
People inside would see the bride in her dress for the first time. Favila had only a few seconds to snap a few pictures, still breathing heavily and trying not to look panicked. She would later realize that she had arrived at exactly the right moment.
The photographer later learned that the bride and groom, Jamaica and Jade, had visited the church the day before and were warned that it would likely flood. Both come from an area where flooding is common, so they didn't see the situation as a reason to cancel the ceremony. They had been together for many years and simply wanted to stick to their plan.
Favila had previously photographed friends' weddings and covered many floods for work, but never both. He says that if he were shooting just for a media release, he would usually wait for the climax, the couple's kiss, and then leave. But this time he stayed for the entire ceremony and worked almost like a wedding photographer, taking care not to get in the way of the couple's official photographer.
He sought to capture special details, like shoes placed on the church pews to avoid getting wet, or the groom's attendants standing knee-deep in water in traditional "barong tagalog" shirts. However, the photo of the bride alone in front of the church remains his favorite.
Favila says he loves the contrast between the carved doors, the religious and historical atmosphere, and the way the train of the bride's dress, even though it floats on the water, seems to have been carefully placed. "That lace was never meant to touch the water," he says.
This was the first time his photos went viral. Previously, when he posted on Instagram, half of the likes came from his relatives. But the wedding amidst the flood touched people's imagination.
According to him, it is important not to close our eyes to wars and destruction, but perhaps these images spread so widely because they show love and resilience in the face of adversity. Throughout the ceremony, he did not see anyone who seemed sad about the circumstances. On the contrary, the photographs were filled with joy. /GazetaExpress/
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