It was a day to remember¡­

[Dennis143]

It was a day to remember¡­

Their Wedding shoot. At the famous 100-year-old Church of the Annunciation in Pengzhou , China .

Very early morning May 12, photographer Wang went about preparing to shoot wedding pictures for a young couple, this was the test shot before the shoot¡­

 

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Pengzhou is located in the Sichuan province.

It was morning May 12th, 2008.

And then it happened.. the earthquake 7.8 on the Richter Scale.

 

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Bricks fall from the building during the earthquake, which turned Wang from a wedding photographer into a journalist.

¡°Thank God we were only shooting from outside the church!¡± remarked a helper.

 

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The stunned couple huddles together at the church ground during initial tremors.

¡°I shouted to people, Run! Run!¡± said photographer Wang Qiang.

¡°The ground shook and we couldn¡¯t see anything in the dust.¡±

As the dust began to clear, the true extent of damage was only beginning to appear..

 

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A cracked facade was all that remained of the 100 year-old Church of the Annunciation after the quake.

¡°Most of the church collapsed in 10 seconds¡± said Wang,

who lives in Chengdu, capital of hard-hit Sichuan province.

[Dennis143]

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Soon after the quake, the people at the seminary set out for a nearby village, but residents warned them the route was blocked.

¡°We could still hear landslides.¡±

Wang wrote in an online account of the disaster. So they stayed overnight in a tent and made it to the village the next day, thank¡¯s to the help from a truck driver.

 

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A scarf from a wedding dress lies forgotten in front of the seminary.

Wang said he thought the catastrophe would strengthen the bonds of the couples who were there at that day.

¡°Having gone through a life and death test, they surely will clasp hands and grow old together.¡±

 

No one was harmed at the above incident.

They¡¯ll sure have a wild story to tell their children..

 

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[Guest WenDylan]

AMAZING! I saw the photo with the church and the purple scarf, but I had no idea there was such an amazing story behind it. The should have really overcome the tragedy by taking a few photos together amongst the rubble of the church... to really show the love is strong and everlasting, even in the fast of adversity and disaster.

[jim_julian]

Amazing .... hope they went on with the wedding.

[Guest hi5pro]

These are some powerful pictures. Amazing indeed!!

[Dennis143]

I often wonder about the aftermath. What is happening with those destroyed cities and what has happened to those displaced lives...?

 

Does everyone just meld back somewhere into society...end of story?

 

I wonder when/if the 'BIG ONE' hits SoCal what/how will those who are displaced regain a foothold...

 

I suppose it's not much different than our Katrina in that we never hear much beyond the initial news and the 'aftershocks' are not so newsworthy.