Seeing Steve McCurry’s feature in the October 2007 National Geographic irked me somewhat. McCurry, otherwise a fabulous photographer, took on a complex topic — The Great Indian Wedding — and, in my opinion, failed.

The series of 10 pictures is uncharacteristically flat, and, having attended my fair share of Indian weddings, they don’t grasp all the facets of what is a pretty universally huge undertaking. The images are obvious, they feel rushed, and worst, I feel no connection to the people in the pictures. For the man who immortalized the piercing gaze of an unnamed Afghan woman, it’s…a disappointment.

For an alternative take on the institution, here’s a link to a Flickr set chronicling my own Indian wedding — which took place at a rather dismal office and which was delayed by five hours by a bureaucrat who decided he didn’t want to grace us with his presence until he was good and ready. Ah, memories!