I was invited by my Indonesian friends to attend a wedding reception this afternoon so that I could photograph some of the traditional clothes that they would be wearing. I asked whether I was appropriately dressed, as I was only wearing an old polo shirt and jeans, and very dirty walking shoes, as we had been out photographing old temples and buffalo ploughing rice fields on the southern slopes of Mt Merapi in the morning - but I was assured there would be no problem.

I thought that meant I could photograph the reception from a discrete distance, but when we arrived at the reception I discovered it was in a large hall and I had to walk past some family members who were lined up in traditional dress to greet the guests. They probably wondered who this scruffily dressed foreigner was, camera in hand, but they just smiled as I filed past.

We didn't stay long because my friends just wanted to pay their respects to the bridal couple and leave a gift. That's just as well because I felt the most out-of-place person in the hall (and I got a few strange glances from some of the guests) but I managed to get off a few shots to capture the atmosphere of the occasion.



Many of the men were wearing the traditional keris knives in their belts, so this was definitely an event where you wouldn't want to pick an argument with anybody!