Their Wedding shoot at the famous 100-year-old Church of the Annunciation in Pengzhou, China.
Very early morning May 12, photographer Wang went about preparing to shoot
wedding pictures for a young couple, this was the test shot before the shoot...
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhENrm1-4vpg_j9Yf9lVIshczu1LozOct54yBfQoUZGq_36G3cr1tcb3mh4DdRPAeRoH_cTUjo1Cur1y2mOGcouQEN6A9YjVtkzIFqdKA-45gG-b3Sqc7oh5Nvp-YZZgHp_hESf/s400/image001.jpg)
Pengzhou is located in the Sichuan province. It was morning May 12, 2008.
And then it happened.... the earth quake! 7.8 on the Richter scale.
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_zVc7g8UptQPbBS6OqbQrjw4uumyvjzrzghSPI2jknkL6HHKR35E5Ph3SVcI9Us9JTz2_1QuwIA-8aS5XBr2DumnbVZgUuEiUsK4sYmYPBhC_sPIQk9D2UbVS9J5OV_kA7pfj/s400/image002.jpg)
Bricks fall from the building during the earthquake, which turned Wang from a
wedding photographer into a journalist.
'Thank God we were only shooting from outside the church!' remarked a helper.
The stunned couple huddles together at the church ground during initial tremors.
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg701529Ik-Ys3tKyJh-JWd85f2y8ufwWYe9x2eerz9cZYbH_nNpZoixi5g1QU3gy6gv5QoLOlafQRokRHEYf1I6hriMmrDoe9rOVGUNUbvsYYBF2PZl-mJ2ZyklRCTFtSjUzJS/s400/image003.jpg)
'I shouted to people, 'Run! Run!'' said photographer Wang Qiang.
'The ground shook and we couldn't see anything in the dust.'
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzUFm6DKk3RMzgvDaG1-pb62rrcduAwhDSxtDFhNlfBlRnYpBobS26PWZ2vnQeS07R05ongc4D-lY-MB4WEmTjzCWufoSI05mQnFbsUCV3137XMBpPPw7AGAyXoido7soja5Nx/s400/image005.jpg)
As the dust began to clear, the true extent of damage was only beginning to appear...
A cracked facade was all that remained of the 100-year-old Church of the
Annunciation after the quake.
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh47tYAKoEYT5fJwd71tYp1kAMgFa7xrEtnNVYd9B5gGGoMNf4AQF2vbuW-i4EgQGEBRX05sHRmb9bbBk8qZRTVMLf5zfo2z_KBFivE9n2OSgLvCJ0Vuar-rrriofiul8Og1iXo/s400/image004.jpg)
Most of the church 'collapsed in 10 seconds,' said Wang,
who lives in Chengdu, capital of hard-hit Sichuan province.
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWlwmwWs9a2e1lXfW84fZ109526zhLEMuz7ZSkOGg31ifPuUiYJnIV1uaTbtWD0aZpjUksj4-NVCdCL7SMolRHRb1PJh2w6W2Xp3se74uaDnkLNmdISF6_k07XcY7pukf2jeS0/s400/image008.jpg)
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaL15c3JBssatA8Hk83QlaQlPaTXbcDvIm2exGM6pYZgFyCeZgszdFR0wR_WFT-6R7DmVJsWXsq5VCCTO0noA0fdknPDVyEzbezvGshZTCkg66ILt6hM1nS_m0aZfEJLBRUs8n/s400/image006.jpg)
Soon after the quake, the people at the seminary set out for a nearby village,
but residents warned them the route was blocked. 'We could still hear landslides,'
Wang wrote in an online account of the disaster. So they stayed overnight in a
tent and made it to the village the next day, thanks to help from a truck driver.
A scarf from a wedding dress lies forgotten in front of the seminary.
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBDsIKaHazfIjNbByBWFEXd3pkaw613sXFauFeIQeFgixlcOSbYBkP3rzMLwMmFa0GDj3fAflTAJHnOQ7U9DWEmcqOpbYcvEHOCAjeygNR5tM_ptfyX2Nvs4yFdWVLqcIh6RWf/s400/image007.jpg)
Wang said he thought the catastrophe should strengthen the bonds of
the couples who were there that day: 'Having gone through a life-and-death test,
they surely will clasp hands and grow old together.'
No one was harmed at the above location.
They'll sure have a unforgetable story to tell their children!
P/s Thanks Mary for sharing that thoughts with me.
No comments:
Post a Comment