Maxwell 11: Anna Marie Has Conceived - Again

[nastyhobbitses]

So I went a ways back in his wedding photography galleries -- looks like Chris photographed a wedding where Bobby Ballinger and Austin were groomsmen, and Meagan Ballinger and Nawon Kwon (pretty sure it's her - facial features match up and we know that she's close to the Forsythingers) were bridesmaids. Small, small world.

[Coconutwater]

Wow, Christopher has a knack for making a happy occasion look extremely depressing and finding people when they look unhappy. He seriously needs to stop with the sepia tones. His photography makes me wonder if this is his outlet for his possible depression? Not able to pursue what he wanted in life (EMT), his photos scream morbid and depressing. I'm not diagnosing, just observing. 

He would make a good funeral photographer if that's a thing. 

[ChunkyBarbie]

I'm going to be delicate with this story... A friend I went to school with, from 7th grade to 12th,  became a dominatrix in our late 20's to maybe our early 30's. Really good money, but I think it was something she did here and there, not full-time. The vibe and weird would get too much for her, and she would need a break and travel or focus on her art.

Sometimes at parties when the drinks have been flowing, she will regale a few of us with stories.  She is freaking hilarious! Steve is exactly the type of guy who would have been her customer. Control freak, wound up super tight, and weird about women. Not surprisingly, more than one of her of customers was really religious. 

Spoiler

I can totally see Steve reading scripture while being punished by Mistress Kitty. Usually by spanking, while being yelled at about being dirty perverts for touching themselves or looking at women's dirty parts. Remember when they had company and Steve accidentally looked down the wife's top and almost cried?   Secret sub.  

 

[Palimpsest]

15 hours ago, chaotic life said:

The drapery covering is Brethren. Quite a few of those wedding guests are different versions of Mennonite, and the main liberal Mennonite sect merged with the main Brethren sect quite a few years ago. I would guess the bride and groom are the liberal Brethren/Mennonite sect and the guests are mixed.

Thank you so much!  For some reason it was was driving me nuts. I did not know there was a merge.

[mango_fandango]

Why am I not surprised that Christopher starts off every wedding album with a photo of the church?? I also find it funny that he gives tips for amateur photographers 

[albireo]

18 hours ago, Palimpsest said:

They are not Amish (obviously 'cos photos.)  Why do you reject all Anabaptists - perhaps they rented the church?  

I'm going by the dress. I'm going to stand by - those guests' caps look very Eastern Mennonite.

Also note the very Amish (or Mennonite) cut of the modest bride and bridesmaid dresses.  I suppose they could be Plain Dress Friends - but Christopher would probably run a mile from Quakers.

Is this some version of "Baptist" doing some cultural appropriation of Quaker or Anabaptist dress. Or is there an element of Messianic Jew? 

I don't know why I am so intrigued by this.  I must just have an overly inquiring mind.  

 

  

Oh no, sorry for seeming more knowledgeable than I am. I do have Swiss Brethren ancestors so I've done a bit of research into Anabaptists, but really I only meant that I didn't think any sort of Anabaptist would find it acceptable to use a Baptist church, even a rental, for a wedding.

[mango_fandango]

I cannot keep up with all the different sects and beliefs and schisms within Christianity. There's no simple definition of "Amish" or "Mennonite" or "Fundie" or anything. I recently learnt the Bontragers are some flavour of Mennonite yet they wear relatively worldly clothes. Even fundie families can ebb and flow in certain areas; the Maxwells don't still wear frumpers. 

[Corntree]

8 hours ago, Odd1Out said:

Sarah said 'funky'!!

Yeah, that stood out to me too! I didn't realize that word was allowed in Maxwell land. Or that they even knew what it meant.

[Hane]

On 8/12/2017 at 4:14 PM, Palimpsest said:

 

 http://christophermaxwell.com/weddings/josiah-sarah/index.html

My faves are always his bleak sepia long-distance shots of the church, its parking lot, and the overhead power wires. He always makes it look less like a wedding than the dawn of the apocalypse.

[Palimpsest]

The long-distance shots of the churches and parking lots are always good.  With the wonky angles that make me feel seasick!

Christopher never considers the background of his shots.  I've always loved the one of the wedding dress hung crookedly from a clothing rail, with several extra hangers he didn't bother moving, and a huge pile of clutter on a dresser in the background.

But my personal favorite:  the bride staring pensively into the distance as she contemplates the imminent transfer of authority over her - right outside the door of the Men's Restroom.  

 

[usmcmom]

My favorite of this most recent wedding is the one of the bride, standing in a doorway, holding her water tumbler and phone. What is she pondering as she gazes into the distance holding onto the two fixtures of every young person?  Where would she be without her water tumbler and her phone?  Will they become "his" after the vows?  So many questions in one artful shot. 

Anway, that's a framer for sure!!  

[mango_fandango]

He uses such weird lighting/effects in all the photos. Not every shot has to be "arty"! I know Joseph has taken some photos for the blog (Chris's wedding) - do we reckon they're better? If only Sarah was allowed to be a wedding photographer - her photos are much better. 

[VooDooChild]

Christopher, you suck!  I had to go cleanse my poor eyeballs with the Arndt's photography after seeing Chrisy-poo's pics.  They are just......ugh!  Depressing and lackluster.  Obviously it isn't his passion.

[usmcmom]

Why does he insist on using all those filters?!? Some of them actually change the colors of the dresses! If I was a bride who chose turquoise for my bridesmaids' dresses, and the photos made them appear sea foam green, I'd be really upset. 

I did notice that, about a year ago, he did a wedding in Washington and Anna's sister is in one of the photos. I sure hope Anna and the kids got to see her family. 

I was wondering if Chris does not do any sort of prep work for weddings. It looks like he just shows up and starts shooting. Most photographers today give the bride a very detailed checklist of specific shots that they can request. And most photographers try to avoid taking pictures of other people taking pictures. Chris seems to like those. Don't most photographers consider it a blocked shot if someone else is in front of them taking the photo?  

I think the Arndt man boys do a MUCH better job. 

[CyborgKin]

11 hours ago, Odd1Out said:

Sarah said 'funky'!!

I hope this needs no explanation because it has no explanation

[danvillebelle]

FWIW - there are a lot of fringe-y groups and churches (a lot out of the Charity Christian Fellowship group in PA) where the women wear that style of head covering (the drapey "D" shaped one).  

I wore a variation of that for awhile, decades ago, when I was studying the headcovering topic on my own and dipping my toes in.  

An acquaintance of mine in a family that is gradually converting to Orthodoxy at our church wears a black one like that, and they are/were Mennonite.

[WonderingInWA]

2 hours ago, Palimpsest said:

The long-distance shots of the churches and parking lots are always good.  With the wonky angles that make me feel seasick!

Christopher never considers the background of his shots.  I've always loved the one of the wedding dress hung crookedly from a clothing rail, with several extra hangers he didn't bother moving, and a huge pile of clutter on a dresser in the background.

But my personal favorite:  the bride staring pensively into the distance as she contemplates the imminent transfer of authority over her - right outside the door of the Men's Restroom.  

 

He is also partial to the random EXIT signs over doors, drinking fountains, and fire alarm pulls.

[Season of life...]

There are so many shots of people from behind: singles, couples, groups, children. I counted at least 12 photos of guests and the wedding couple from the back, not counting the altar shots which actually make sense. To my amateur eyes, that seems like an excess of rear end views, but what do I know? He doesn't appear to have the talent to spot a good candid shot, he seems to click everything regardless of the framing or subject.

I do have to admit, though, that I thought the balcony shot with the bridal party was lovely--there's just something about the color of the sky and those old red bricks. 

[catlady]

two of the bridesmaid portraits are reasonably nice, but they are at different distances and are cropped differently, and the third one has her head at a different angle.  then the four bouquets with the top of their heads cut off.......further down, there is one of a man and two women singing; one of the women has a mic stand diagonally in front of her face.  does Christopher even *try*?

and yes, the fucking power lines!!1!

[Naga Viper]

13 hours ago, Odd1Out said:

Sarah said 'funky'!!

That turned my head too, in a "That can't possibly be right" way. I mean, it's a perfectly innocuous usage, but now I feel like I'm waiting for Sarah to go full Rick James and describe something as "super-freaky, yowwww!"

[PennySycamore]

@usmcmom,  my son-in-law was taking some pictures for my m-i-l's 80th birthday celebration yesterday.  He and my daughter spent an hour or so setting up all the equipment.   He wanted things to not be good enough.  He wanted them to be perfect. That's what professional photographers do.

[Palimpsest]

12 hours ago, danvillebelle said:

FWIW - there are a lot of fringe-y groups and churches (a lot out of the Charity Christian Fellowship group in PA) where the women wear that style of head covering (the drapey "D" shaped one).  

I wore a variation of that for awhile, decades ago, when I was studying the headcovering topic on my own and dipping my toes in.  

An acquaintance of mine in a family that is gradually converting to Orthodoxy at our church wears a black one like that, and they are/were Mennonite.

The 7 Sisters wear headcoverings in the D shape except made out of lace.  They are not Anabaptist of any sor , I think they identify as non-denominational, and say it is a personal conviction.  I do think more and more Fundies are headcovering for various reasons.  For some Mennonites the married women wear black headcovers.

@mango_fandango, the Bontrangers came from a Mennonite background but are now Fundie-IFB-Gothardite.  They've left the Mennonites essentially.

As an aside, I watched an interesting BBC documentary recently.  Some Fundies are apparently targeting the Amish and Mennonite communities as "fields ripe for harvest."  They are not the right kind of Christian because they use the wrong Bible and need converting.  Their Bibles are not KJV, obviously, and some groups still use a version in High German which is not easy for Pennsylvania Dutch speakers to understand.

Escaping from the Amish into IFB or IBLP must be like jumping out of the frying pan into the fire.

[mango_fandango]

Oh Lord that's horrendous. At least the Amish get the option of the Rumspringa. I know most of them choose to stay Amish, but at least they have that option to leave and can experience life outside their beliefs. ATI kids don't get that. 

[PennySycamore]

Considering what @mango_fandango said about rumspringa and what @Palimpsest said about jumping from frying pan in to the fire, the skillet's still in the cabinet with the Amish/Mennonites.

[chaotic life]

While I do understand that lots of IFB individuals do appropriate the culture of plain people, that wedding is not a cultural appropriation. It is a wedding of Plain people. Identifying them as plain is more than their head coverings. It's their clothing, their hair, the colors of the wedding and even the mannerisms seen in the photography. Given the head coverings in the bridal party and the juxtaposition of the chuck environment, my best guess is Brethren with ties to the local Mennonite sects as well. I've seen a lot of plain people appropriation by fundies before and I've never seen them nail all of the subtle markers that say plain to the trained eye.

http://mennoworld.org/2015/11/11/news/anabaptist-siblings-brethren-renew-historic-connections-with-mennonites/

Mennoworld is a great resource for all things anabaptist from an insider's perspective.