Bride flooded to get married: Best picture of Aaron Favila | Drawing

MeI have been working as a photographer at the Associated Press bureau in Metro Manila for almost 30 years, and during that time the floods Philippines it’s too much. One day last July, I returned to the office after spending the morning on my travels, photographing the aftermath of a typhoon that flooded most of Manila and its surrounding areas.

While I was eating lunch and breakfast, I received a message from a photographer friend who was serving in Bulacan, another province. He was shooting at the Barásoain Church, a famous building that was flooded, and as he was leaving, someone said: “Don’t you want to wait for the wedding?” It was hard to believe that people get married in such conditions, but they told me that the ceremony was supposed to start at 3, which gave me an hour to get there. Even under good conditions it would have taken at least 40 minutes, but I jumped in the car with the AP driver and we got within a mile or two of the church, where the water was too deep to go through.

Fortunately, I was able to flag down an ambulance that was headed in the right direction. I was thinking: “Many tourists are late, they won’t start the third time. But the car kept stopping and asking people if they want to get on. I was helping the rescuers to pull people on the boat, but secretly thinking: “Please hurry up!” My forehead began to sweat.

There is a large parking lot in front of the church, so when the car stopped, I was still 100 meters away from its doors. I could see a white image in front of them. I said: “Why! And he went splashing through the water like a hippopotamus, and got far before the doors opened. The people in the church were about to see the bride in her clothes for the first time – I just had time to take a few pictures and hold my breath and pretend I wasn’t scared. It was a good time to arrive, really.”

I later learned that the bride and groom, Jamaica and Jade, had visited the site the day before and were informed that the church would be flooded. They all came from flood prone areas, so it was a situation they were used to. They have been together for years and just wanted to stick to the plan.

I photographed the weddings of friends and I photographed the flood of work, but never two courses together. If you are shooting for publication, you usually wait for the moment to come, so I would have left when the newlyweds kissed – that would be the picture. But I sat through the entire ceremony working as a wedding photographer, careful not to disturb the photographer she had booked.

I wanted to know more like shoes that are put on a chair to dry, and married men standing in deep water in the usual way. new tagalog coat. But this image of the bride alone outside the church is my favorite. I love the paintings on the door, the religious and historical ideas, and even though the train of his clothes is floating, it looks well organized. All cables are not designed to be in the water.

This is the first time my photos have been lost. In the past I’ve posted on Instagram and half the likes would have come from my family, but a wedding in a flood seemed to attract more attention. It is important not to focus on war and destruction, but perhaps these images resonated because they showed love and courage in the face of tragedy. During the entire event, I never saw a single person who looked sad because of the situation. The pictures are full of joy.

Aaron Favila is 2026 World Press Photo award winner

Aaron Favila’s CV

Born: 1974, Manila
Boarding Area: Winning at World Press Photo 2026, Asia-Pacific and Oceania, News.
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