On one occasion during a lunchtime when I was working in Chichester, the usual spot that I’d hover around from which to engage in a little bit of street photography was occupied by what was at first glance a wedding taking place in public. I have my doubts that this is what was really happening because of a number of points: look how happy everyone is; look how young and pretty everyone is; look at the lack of elderly relatives, or any parents of any sort; look at everyone making this a very public event.
Now, Chichester has a college and a university and a vibrant art student scene, so that’s one possibility: that this was an art show of some description.
But Chichester is also a hotbed of cults. You won’t find much mention of Chichester’s cult scene on the web because that’s how good they are at covering up cult activity. But every cult needs a publicity drive of some sort; something to say to the young people “Come, look how great everything is! We want to be your friends! Join us!” You might be thinking, “Well, yeah, Mark, I can buy that, but if this was not a real wedding but a ceremony designed to pull in people to the cult then why weren’t you approached?” and to that I’d like to draw your attention once more to that fact that everyone here looks happy and young and pretty.
Anyway, if you’re looking for a wedding photographer in and around Chichester in West Sussex then clearly you’ll need to find someone who’s not me unless you’re going for that back-of-the-head vibe I favour.
