Two young lovers, arm in arm, whisper to each other while looking at a wedding photo in which a couple drifts in a small boat on a lake dappled with morning sunshine at the Pingyao International Photography Festival (PIP).

American photographer Michael Darius takes a picture of the lovers as he passed by. "Chinese people love taking photos to preserve their fond memories." he said.

Wedding photos, which are a ritual of marriage, bear the mark of time, said Zhou Zhikang, who had been taking them for more than50 years.

Fan Shaozu, 90, has a house full of antique clocks, old furniture and calligraphy collections. But the most eye-catching object in his house is a delicately-framed modern wedding picture.

"We took this on our golden wedding day," Fan said, his eyes brimming with happiness.

"It was a pity we weren't able to have our wedding photo taken when we were young." Fan said, "Fortunately, we made it up."

"In the 1970s and 1980s, the husband and wife, wearing brand new but old-fashioned clothes, sat side by side on two chairs. Every time I routinely asked them to 'get closer to each other' and 'smile'. And click, the photo was done." Zhou recalled.

"From the 1990s to the first years of the 21st century, wedding photos became very common in China. But the husbands were always in suits and wives in white wedding dresses." Zhou said.

"I don't like old-fashioned wedding photos," said bride-to-be Zhao Hui, who was born in the 1980. "Everyone looks the same with thick layers of cosmetics, similar poses and expressions and Photo shopping."

Photography studios are catering to post-1980 couples who want their wedding photos to be special, Zhou said.

"We have gone beyond the walls to seashores, bars, parking lots and rusted factories, anywhere you can imagine," Zhou said. "And the young couples wear all kinds of clothes: traditional, ethnic or post-modern."

Occasionally, I see couples taking wedding photos in quiet and old corners of ancient Pingyao city, said photographer Zhao Lei.

"Young couples want their wedding photos to be special and meaningful," Zhao said.

In Zhao's studio hang wedding pictures telling the story of how lovers met each other and fell in love. Some others show couples cooking, doing the laundry and watching TV together, showcasing simple, happy marital bliss.

(Xinhua News Agency September 24, 2009)