The New York Times - 06.08.2019

THE NEW YORK TIMES INTERNATIONALTUESDAY, AUGUST 6, 2019 N A

SANTORINI, Greece — The
bride wore a sparkling tiara and
a flowing red wedding gown, her
fifth matrimonial ensemble of the
day. The groom wore a silver
tuxedo and the fatigued look of a
guy who had spent the last dozen
hours posing for pictures.
The photographer gave in-
structions. Re-enact the proposal
on bended knee. Twirl in the
dress. Kiss the bride’s hand.
But it was nearly sunset, and
the couple still hadn’t captured
that perfect Santorini picture to
display at their traditional wed-
ding in China next month.
So their photographer, who is
based in Shanghai, rushed the
pair across the island’s white-
washed roofs and narrow cliff-
side footpaths, coaching them in
Chinese at various scenic out-
looks.
Above a luxury hotel re-
nowned in China as the setting
for a popular romantic comedy,
he told the weary groom to lift
his betrothed in an over-the-
threshold pose. The third try was
the charm.
For a grand finale, the couple
stared into each other’s eyes on a
rooftop, and the photographer
framed their silhouettes around
the blood-orange sun, sinking
behind them into the shimmering
Aegean Sea. It was the stuff
pre-wedding-picture dreams
were made of.
“Santorini is famous in China,”
said the 29-year-old groom, Yao
Kai, after the final click of the
camera.
Unlike his parents, who he said
had sat stoically for their wed-
ding photos in China, the groom
had the good fortune to have
seen the world — and wanted his
friends, family and wedding
guests to see him seeing it.
“This is a great moment for
our country’s economy,” he add-
ed. “We are getting stronger.”
Pre-wedding pictures have
become a multibillion-dollar
business in the Instagram age —
particularly for Asian couples.
Many Chinese brides and
grooms who plan for traditional
ceremonies back home go first
for professional photographs
under the Eiffel Tower in Paris,
at Big Ben in London and in the
English countryside. (“A Down-
ton Abbey effect on Chinese
pre-wedding photo shoots,” the
South China Morning Post re-
ported.) New Zealand and Ant-
arctica are the latest pre-wed-
ding destination hot spots.
But the deep blues and white-
out whites of Santorini exercise a
particular hold on the romantic
imagination of many an Asian
nearlywed.
“A lot of people come,” said Xu
Kaiyue, the photographer’s as-
sistant. “Too many people.”
Santorini is fatally pictur-
esque. Armadas of cruise ships
and low-cost air carriers carry
selfie and Instagram addicts to
its clogged towns. Airbnbs have
replaced residents. The island’s
donkeys buckle under the bur-

den of portly visitors. (“Fat tour-

ists leave Greek island donkeys

CRIPPLED,” read a headline in

Britain’s Express newspaper.)

To profit off the Chinese mar-

ket, Greek photographers have

developed websites with gal-

leries of stunning brides-to-be

stretching languorously or lead-

ing white horses on the beach.

The island’s officials, like their

counterparts across Greece,

have pursued Chinese invest-

ment during the country’s eco-

nomic crisis, and appreciate the

lucrative surge in Chinese vis-

itors.

Luke Bellonias, an island offi-

cial, said the Chinese had ex-

tended the tourist season deep

into autumn when most Euro-

peans and Americans have gone

home. “They just love to take

photos,” he said. “They don’t love

the sun that much.”

Still, he acknowledged, “This

gets a bit out of control.”

Foreign photographers, com-

plete with makeup crews, large

stocks of wedding dresses and

stylists, live for months on the

island but dodge taxes, he said.

The financial police rarely en-

force the law, giving free rein, he

said, to people “holding wedding

dresses above their heads and

two or three bags and running

from place to place.”

For many couples, fees run-

ning into the tens of thousands of

euros are a small price to pay for

an image that they say encapsu-

lates both true romance and

social mobility.

“It’s as important, if not more

important, than the ring,” said

Olivia Martin-McGuire, the direc-

tor of “China Love,” a documen-

tary about the industry.

And for couples unable to

afford the real thing, there are

photo studios in Shanghai with

Santorini sets.

“It’s very meaningful,” Ms.

Martin-McGuire said.

Having pre-wedding pictures

shot on Santorini itself seemed to

mean the world to 26-year-old

Tzuchi Lin, and his fiancée,

Yingting Huang.

“It’s very exciting. Actually, we

didn’t sleep last night,” Mr. Lin,

who is known as Kenny, said in

his hotel room early one recent

morning. His 30-year-old fiancée,

who uses the name Penny, ap-

plied hair spray in front of two

wedding gowns draped from the

window shutters.

“Now she can show off to her

friends: ‘I went to Santorini to

have my pre-wedding photos,’ ”

he said.

The couple, from Taiwan,

where some pre-wedding schol-

ars say the industry began,

slipped into something less com-

fortable. Mr. Lin wore a tuxedo

with a maroon bow tie, and Ms.

Huang an empire-waist white

gown with lace bodice. She

folded a second dress into a

paper bag.

“We got them from Taobao,”

Mr. Lin said. “China’s Amazon.”

They fueled up on eggs in the

hotel, but the waiter insisted Mr.

Lin drink a shot of ouzo.

“Now,” he said, “you can get

married.”

In the parking lot, they met

their photographers, Toto Kuo, a

Taiwan native, and her husband

of three months, Georgios

Galanopoulos. They met “the

old-fashioned” way, Ms. Kuo said

— “couch surfing.”

The two photographers — who

refused to have any pictures

taken at their own wedding —

led their clients to Oia, the town

on the photo-bombarded tip of

the island, where they set up

shop in Mr. Galanopoulos’s fam-

ily art gallery. They decided the

bride-to-be should start posing in

what Mr. Lin called the “more

elegant” dress, as opposed to the

“sexier” one in the bag.

They fought the crowds elbow-

ing toward a particularly sought-

after blue dome backdrop, but a

Houston couple posing for pro-

fessional anniversary pictures

had already claimed the perch.

Mr. Galanopoulos, 50, said the

island’s Greek photographers

had begun discussing whether

there should be a five-minute-

per-iconic-backdrop policy.

At a crowded lookout point,

Mr. Galanopoulos instructed the

couple to keep their lips puck-

ered in a suspended near kiss.

“There’s a wedding, a bride

and a groom!” an American

shouted as Mr. Lin accidentally

pecked his betrothed’s open eye.

“Novio!” shouted someone in

Spanish.

The sun started taking its toll.

Ms. Huang sprayed sunscreen on

her shoulders and pointed an

electric fan at her throat. Her

fiancé handed out water bottles.

They took a breather in the

gallery, where Mr. Galanopoulos

kept six wedding dresses on

hand. Ms. Huang emerged from

the basement in a red one with a

20-foot train.

At the church down the street,

the caretaker shooed them away

because the priest didn’t approve

of the picture-taking. They

moved to another rooftop, but

Ms. Huang’s train nearly

dragged over some dried dog

droppings. Mr. Galanopoulos

scraped them off with a pail and

started shooting as his wife,

holding the end of Ms. Huang’s

train, struggled to create a bil-

lowing effect.

With time running out, things

started looking up. Ms. Kuo

noticed an auspicious sweat stain

marking her husband’s T-shirt.

(“Babe,” she said, “You have a

heart.”) The priest had left, and

the church caretaker sneaked

them inside the courtyard, where

the posing couple received

shouts of congratulations and

blessings for marital bliss from

tourists on the packed footpath

alongside the church.

After a wardrobe change into

the “sexy” dress, the couple got

their blue dome backdrop and

nailed a rooftop proposal shot.

“Will you marry me?” Mr. Lin

said in English.

“Say yes,” coached Ms. Kuo.

“Yes,” the bride said.

A crowd gathered below ap-

plauded warmly.

Mr. Lin and Ms. Huang, pos-

ing for the Taiwanese photog-

rapher Toto Kuo, left, and her

Greek husband, Georgios

Galanopoulos. At left, tourists

clustered on top of the Oia

Castle ruins to take photos of

the island’s famed sunset.

PHOTOGRAPHS BY LAURA BOUSHNAK FOR THE NEW YORK TIMES

Tzuchi Lin, and his fiancée, Yingting Huang, dressing for their

pre-wedding photos in the town of Oia on Santorini, Greece.

SANTORINI DISPATCH

The Bride, the Groom

And a Greek Photo Shoot

By JASON HOROWITZ

A Brazilian gang leader tried to
escape from prison by imperson-
ating his teenage daughter, com-
plete with a lifelike silicone mask
and wig, before attempting to
walk out the front door in her
place after she visited him.
The attempt by the prisoner —
Clauvino da Silva, 42, also known
as Shorty — to pass as the young
woman was thwarted by guards
at the Bangu prison complex in
Rio de Janeiro, who noticed his
nervousness on Saturday as he
tried to leave, the newspaper O
Dia reported, citing prison offi-
cials.
Footage released by Rio de Ja-
neiro’s Penitentiary Administra-
tion Secretariat shows Mr. da
Silva after being discovered by
the guards. In it, he wears the
mask, glasses, long black wig,
jeans and a pink T-shirt with
doughnuts on it.
He then removes the disguise
piece by piece before finally peel-
ing off the mask with some effort,

resulting in an audible smack as

the silicone is removed from his

face.

Mr. da Silva, his shaved head,

tattooed arms and stubble sud-

denly exposed, is then asked to

identify himself. He replies by

saying his full name.

Mr. da Silva, who is serving a 73-

year sentence for drug trafficking,

had planned to simply walk out

the front door, leaving behind his

daughter, who is 19, according to

the report in O Dia.

His daughter was being investi-

gated to establish whether she

had any involvement in the plot,

as were other visitors to the pris-

on who may have helped bring in

materials for the disguise.

This was not Mr. da Silva’s first

escape attempt, though it was the

first time that he had tried to make

his way out the front door. In 2013,

he was among 31 prisoners who

fled the Vicente Piragibe Penal In-

stitute, also in Rio de Janeiro

State, through its sewer system,

before eventually being caught.

Front-Door Jailbreak Fails, Despite Mask

Clauvino da Silva tried to es-

cape a Brazilian prison dressed

as his 19-year-old daughter.

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE — GETTY IMAGES

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