Couples that visit me often comment on this photograph hanging in my home. Brenda Miles, a fine art and wedding photographer, shot this retro wedding self-portrait in 1990 on a highway on Padre Island near Corpus Christi, Texas. Brenda hand paints or colorizes black and white photos. She is best known for her boudoir photography of women. (A wonderful gift for your fiance, ladies.)  I wrote about Brenda for Valentine's Day for the Caller-Times in Corpus Christi where I reported for 7 1/2 years. I bought Brenda's bridal portrait because, for me, it represented my leaving Texas to join Mark  in Toronto nine months after I met him on the Internet. For Brenda, the woman seated on a suitcase is leaving her husband. The work is called "Cruel Shoes," a title Brenda borrowed from a short story by Steve Martin.  Note the satin purple high heels tossed on the pavement.

To complete the retro look, Brenda found an ornate wood frame with white chipped paint in an antique shop. She frequents vintage clothing shops where she found the 1940s bridal gown she's wearing in the photo. Read this poetic essay Brenda wrote. It's her story about creating the photograph and the meaning behind it. The portrait series continues in this image shot of Brenda by her friend and then journalism student, Sherry Toler Taylor.