Wedding season is in full swing, as witnessed by the houses ablaze with lights in many streets. Weddings everywhere are a time of celebration, spent with friends and family and accompanied by feasting, dancing and music.
It is a formula that has worked for generations, as demonstrated by this image - or rather images - taken at an Abu Dhabi wedding in 1971.
The photographer, Alain Saint-Hilaire has cleverly used two frames to capture the vibrancy and spectacle of one member of the wedding band. He is playing a mizmar, a wind instrument popular across the Arab world and Turkey.
Carved in a trumpet shape from a single piece of wood, it has a reed in the mouthpiece with a sound similar to an oboe.
The photo also illustrates the technique of playing the mizmar, which uses air stored in the cheeks. One of the strengths of the mizmar is the loudness of the sound, making it ideal for outdoor celebrations like this traditional wedding.
* James Langton
