La Boda (The Wedding)

The Bride

Veronica and Joel

As I bounced down an almost impassable dirt road on my way to a boda (wedding) in San Martin Tilcajete, it finally sunk in that I was not in Kansas anymore. There was a Nor'easter in Boston, heavy rain in St. Thomas, the Pats were playing the Jets … and there were flashes of previous lives, school concerts, vacations, the haze that is my past.

Not here not now. Bumpin’ down the road to see the wedding of Veronica and Joel. Veronica is the daughter of Jesus and Juana Sosa Calvo, who are renowned woodcarvers in a village famous for its carvers.

Most weddings in Mexico take place during December and May. That’s the tradition and the celebrations last days. Each village has different rituals, celebrations, foods and customs. This was my first in San Martin.

Jesus and I go back a long way and it was a wonderful honor to be at the wedding. The Sosa family has carved almost thirty of the atriles (music stands) in my collection which numbers around 65 now. They carved the very first stand and they have created many of the most remarkable pieces in Oaxacan woodcarving.

Veronica and Jesus Sosa in December or 1999 with the first atril (music stand)

Instrumentales - August, 2002

I arrived very early at the church early after an easy 90-minute drive down the wide valleys that lead south of the city.

At one point in its history, San Martin Tilcajete was a large military and political rival of Monte Alban, but now it is a small and quiet place with perhaps between 50 and 100 carving families. The fame of their carvings brought much wealth to these poor villages, but now no one visits and sales have plummeted. Tough times. The artists are figuring out other ways of surviving. Some go back to the campo (working the fields), others have opened restaurants and many have left for El Norte.

Jesus’ son and his brother just came back from picking apples in Washington. Emiglio, the brother, is a great painter. Now he has lots of muscles and looks like a different person – wonderfully strong and healthy.

I sat in the zocalo and just watched village life on a Sunday afternoon. It was in the shade, cool breezes, decent music playing across the square. I just hoped I was in the right place.

In time, people started arriving. There were lots of kids with musical instruments. I could see them walking down the long dusty streets lugging their cases behind them.

Joel and Veronica waited in the car until all had assembled and then…

It unfolded, a very simple and sweet traditional village ceremony. As I say, it was a real honor and pleasure to be there.

I, of course, was doing my best to shoot “ a traditional wedding shoot” using the best of what I could remember from the master, Sonya. I couldn’t remember much, but managed to shoot around 400 shots so I played the percentages and got a few nice ones.

After the ceremony, the band led us on a procession through the village and people came out to wave and give good wishes to the couple.

After a ten-minute walk the entire party ended up at the Sosa home where long tables were set under the trees and awnings. There was a great trio singing as we sat down to a meal of carnitas, pork cooked in large pots of manteca (lard), beans, salsas, rice, tortillas and beer, mescal and sodas.

There was a beautiful altar set up off to the side.

The next day Veronica was off to live in Puebla with Joel’s family.