Newly-weds kiss in the church, Forêt des Pins, Ouest department, January 2017.
Valérie Baeriswyl
Nobody wants to miss their chance to take the perfect photo during the ceremony. Tabarre, Ouest department, December 2016.
Valerie Baeriswyl
A male choir singing during a ceremony at Cap Haïtien, Nord department, October 2017.
Valerie Baeriswyl
Sherline makes the final adjustments to her wedding dress; behind, her godmother prepares. Léogâne, Ouest department, October 2017.
Valerie Baeriswyl
People often travel in groups, since many people in rural areas don't have cars. Deschapelles, Artibonite department, November 2017.
Valerie Baeriswyl
A local tailor makes some important adjustments, Ouest department, December 2017.
Valerie Baeriswyl
Marriage ceremony in the St-Pierre church, Pétionville, Ouest department, December 2016.
Valerie Baeriswyl
Wedding guests are photographed in front of a church wall especially decorated for the purpose, Forêt des Pins, Ouest department, January 2017.
Valerie Baeriswyl
A marriage involving members of the diaspora in a chic hotel on the coast of Haiti, Côtes des Arcadins, December 2016.
Valerie Baeriswyl
The groom in search of the garter, Port-au-Prince, February 2019.
Valerie Baeriswyl
The bride received for confession before the wedding; the groom will do the same. Bouli, Centre department, December 2018.
Valerie Baeriswyl
Those who don't feel well-dressed enough often haven't the courage to enter the church. Port-au-Prince, December 2016.
Valerie Baeriswyl
A generator to power the sound in the church is prepared. Electricity is not available everywhere in rural Haiti. Deschapelles, Artibonite department, November 2017.
Valerie Baeriswyl
The bridal dress is showcased in the living room of the house. Often, dresses are rented out for the day. For the more lavish weddings, a member of the diaspora brings a dress back from, for example, the US. Bouli, Centre department, January 2018.
Valerie Baeriswyl
A couple poses in front of their house. Usually, homes where the new pair are to live are repainted. Baie-de-Henne, Nord-ouest department, October 2018.
Valerie Baeriswyl
A maid of honour applies lipstick, Forêt des Pins, Ouest department, January 2017.
Valerie Baeriswyl
Just because you’re poor, it doesn't mean you don’t have the right to a Hollywood-style wedding. With characteristically southern generosity, Haitians can spend a lifetime’s worth of savings on a single day.
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After some years in the regional print and broadcast media in French Switzerland, in 2000 I joined Radio Swiss International, which then became swissinfo.ch. Since then I have been writing (and producing short videos) on a variety of subjects, from politics to business, and including culture and science.
Thomas Kern was born in Switzerland in 1965. Trained as a photographer in Zürich, he started working as a photojournalist in 1989. He was a founder of the Swiss photographers agency Lookat Photos in 1990. Thomas Kern has won twice a World Press Award and has been awarded several Swiss national scholarships. His work has been widely exhibited and it is represented in various collections.
Valérie Baeriswyl, images, Marc-André Miserez, texte, Thomas Kern, rédaction photo
As she did in Switzerland on assignments as a wedding photographer, Valérie Baeriswyl has slipped behind the scenes of such Haitian marriages to capture the “anxiety mixed with euphoria, a universal prelude to the vows of eternal love”.
“I took boats, motorcycles, vans and donkeys. I have attended peasant weddings, entered the lemon-coloured palaces of the beautiful districts of Port-au-Prince, the mud houses of the slums, and the rented rooms where what remains in Haiti of a middle class still believes in a future”, she wrote in the preamble to her work, which earned her a scholarship with the Reuters news agency last year.
Now she is looking for a publisher to make a book from this “exceptional showcase of traditions, the Americanization of an island, social divides and daily resistance”.
If you want to start a conversation about a topic raised in this article or want to report factual errors, email us at english@swissinfo.ch.
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How a Swiss photographer came to capture Haitian weddings
This content was published on
Originally from western Switzerland, photographer Valérie Baeriswyl is now preparing a book about wedding ceremonies on the Caribbean island of Haiti.
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If you want to start a conversation about a topic raised in this article or want to report factual errors, email us at english@swissinfo.ch.