The Camera's Positioning: Brides, Grooms, and Their Photographers in Taipei's Bridal Industry

This article analyzes the intense orchestration of the bride's appearance—both her physical beauty and her ability to appear to captivate her groom—in Taiwanese bridal salons. Historical circumstance, competitive consumption, and family politics combine to render young women willing if not always eager subjects. Photographers, in turn, attempt to provoke specific subjective states in their clients so as to produce atractive, naturalistic poses and facial expressions. Through attention to positioning processes, the subtleties of the relationships among subjective experience, social performance, and cultural belief are examined.