Fresh flowers

Well, you see, when you have reached the age of five, ten... Because that is the way that we celebrate in Suriname. So not if you're two or three. No, one year, five years, and then five, five, five. And on those occasions you have your picture taken with flowers or plants, making it look colorful.

Standing amidst the flowers in this black-and-white picture is my great-grandmother. The flowers tell us that this photo was taken on her bigi yari day, her 'big year day'. It is one of those traditions that is just there without anyone being able to tell you how it started. Open up a photo album in a Surinamese family; chances are that you will find pictures of grandmothers standing amidst a sea of flowers and plants.

My grandmother loves plants, but has a love-hate relationship with fresh flowers. She cannot stand the smell of vase water. She does, however, tolerate them for quick en passant photoshoots, and they are indispensable props at her own bigi yari parties. But for her 90th birthday she had me specifically mention "no flowers" on her invitation. To be fair, she already has enough pictures of herself in this genre to start a bigi yari museum.