A Picture's Worth a Thousand Words

Last week we got a very pleasant surprise: our photos appeared in the next year's Leiden calendar! Considering that I'm an amateur, this was a huge achievement for me. For 2007 calendar, the committee had set a theme: 'after the disaster". What they meant was actually the explosion of a ship loaded with gun powder in the center of Leiden in 1807 . But it seemed that many of the photographers also included the historical fire at the City Hall in 1929 (including myself). When I accidentally took the picture of a fire-engine-turned-into- a-wedding-car I never thought I would send it to a contest. But then I decided to do so. To my eyes, it shows a combination of a reminiscence of the 1929 fire at the city hall and a present day festivity of a wedding ceremony (I actually titled it as "after the fire, here come the bride and groom"). In itself it becomes a symbol of a hope for the future and a remedy to a painful tragedy. And it worked! The jury found it original and creative. It eventually appeared on the August page of the calendar.
However, as a picture's worth a thousand words, you can have your own words about it (or them).

W. Sushartami, "Een trouwauto die hiervoor een andere dients bewees aan het Stadhuis", appears on 2007 Leiden Calendar (August)

Djoko M. Sunarto, "Een glas-in-lood afbeelding van het Leiden voor de ramp", appears on 2007 Leiden Calendar (November)