She was wearing a Ramones T-shirt with striped layers underneath, black fingernails and a little sneer on her face the first time we met. "I checked out your website, I like your photos" she said with a shrug making sure not to sound too enthusiastic about my work. Stasha and her Mom were meeting with me to plan her big Quinceanera celebration. Which is a traditional Latino celebration when a girl becomes a woman at the age of fifteen. As we were planning the time line for the event Stasha’s mom referred to it as her mini wedding. I thought it was sounding more like an over the top sweet 16 party, like the ones I sometimes get sucked into watching on MTV. Stasha seemed a bit stressed about the whole thing, yet was trying hard to act like she didn’t even care about it (but I could tell she did).
During the weeks leading up to the party I did research on the tradition and asked my friend Patti to tell me all about her Quinceanera 20 years ago. Patti remembered every little detail with a big smile on her face and I realized what a special day this would be in Stasha’s life. I learned that Stasha would have a court of 14 young people, 7 boys and 7 girls, and she would be the important 15th member of her court. Stasha and her court took dance lessons and practiced a traditional waltz to prepare for their grand entrance. I was honored to be apart of the celebration and curious to see how she would handle the spotlight.
On the big day when I arrived at her house I was so surprised to see Stasha in a frilly pink party dress. She had ringlets in her hair, pearls around her neck and even bows on her high heels. She looked so different from our first meeting. Her outfit was feminine and sweet yet very fashionable. I started out photos with just Stasha and her chihuahua in her dining room. I asked her court to leave the room so she would feel more comfortable while I photographed her. In the quiet dining room with perfect window light, we made a connection and created beautiful images together. As I focused my camera I saw a young woman full of confidence who was more than ready to celebrate her new found womanhood.
A mariachi band, a full house of teens, bouncers, little gifts for each guest, delicious Mexican food, a fancy cake, a grand dancing entrance, a DJ with loud music, and lots of dirty dancing. That was pretty much how the night played out. It was a perfect combination of a miniature wedding and a rocking sweet 16 party …oh I mean a sweet 15 party!
