I was walking through the central plaza of Quito, the capital of Ecuador, when I watched a group of young girls in their early teens, all dressed in wedding clothes, filing into a Catholic Church. I was fascinated by their faces and their solemnity and followed them into the church. I sat in the front pew and began to take pictures. This young girl was the center of attention and so I focused on her. She began to watch me taking pictures and held up her pink gloves in front of her face. The gloves and the pink hat framed her lovely face. But as I later looked at the picture I found I was hypnotized by her eyes.
I later learned that it is a tradition in Ecuador that when a girl becomes fifteen, she puts on her first pink dress and her first high heels.
All photos copyright 2007 by Hal Gieseking