Photo Essay
The photo essay assignment I completed was centered around my trip to San Francisco for my cousin’s twenty first birthday. My photo essay brings in culture as it demonstrates an Americanized Indian birthday party. The photos were taken in two days and the general setting was his house, where the party was held. The tone for the essay represented a celebration vibe and has a positive outlook.
The first few pictures I took showed the preparations for the party. We had to decorate and set up everything. After I arrived at his house, we began to set up tables, set up the food display, and pick up supplies. First, we went and picked up tacos and taco meat from a Mexican restaurant and then we went and bought ingredients to make cupcakes. The appetizers turned out to be food from many different cultures.
As people started to show up, the party became a lot livelier. Every one introduced themselves to each other and was really nice. Most of the people were hanging out and eating and having a good time talking and reminiscing. I became well acquainted with his friends and other family and it ended up as us having a really good time. Even though it was his twenty first birthday, he didn’t want to drink any alcohol since it is slightly disrespectful in front of adults, even if they were the ones consuming it.
After everyone got to know eachother, it was time for the childhood pictures of my cousin. They made a power point presentation of all the baby and little kid pictures of him and his family. Everyone began to reminisce and had a good time looking at the old pictures. After looking at the pictures on the TV, dinner was served. Dinner consisted of mainly traditional Indian food that everyone enjoyed. Family and friends were gathered around and joked around while all of us were eating.
The party attenders gathered around as the birthday cake was about to be cut after dinner. It had a big “Happy 21st Birthday Sanjeet” written across it. The cake was eggless, which made many people not want to eat the cake, which was the reason why my other cousin prepared cupcakes before-hand. We all sang happy birthday and then took pictures with the birthday boy. It was also a special birthday for him since he was able to have both of his grandmas be able to attend the party.
Most of his friends left before the dancing started. One of his cousins started playing this popular Indian instrument called a Dhol. It’s like a huge two sided bongo that you play with these special sticks. The whole family got up and started dancing while I was taking the pictures. It lasted for about twenty minutes before everyone got tired and decided to just relax. The party was pretty much over after that, as people started to leave since it was about 12 am. The rest of the night consisted of the family just sitting and talking and allowing for people to leave.
The next day began the after-party cleanup process. After all the time we spent setting everything up, it was time to start throwing and cleaning everything out. Following the cleanup process was the 49ers football game that the family watched on the TV. With them living in San Francisco, the game was a very big deal, but they ended up losing which disappointed everyone. My mother and I left their house after the game since it was Sunday and we had to be home for the following Monday. The party was a great experience as it mixed in American culture with Indian culture.
