Abuelo y nina

The grandfather and baby girl version two. This was early on before the ceremony had started. The grandfather was waiting at the door of the church for the parents to arrive.

As with all of these pictures from Mecca, I will make prints and take them back to the church for them to give to the families. It makes me happy to do this because, one, I think the families will love having the pictures and, two, because they will love having them for nothing.

There are a couple of photographers there who make a lot of money at these sorts of events. They go around snapping every child, give the families a card and then offer the photos at a stiff price. Just doesn't seem right. I guess this is no different than souvenir pictures taken and sold at a fancy restaurant but with a good number of the congregation living at poverty level or below - statistics are stunning in that area - it just irks me for this to be happening. And it makes me really happy to give the prints away.