Photographers often complain about how boring it is to document weddings and other family celebrations. Many do it to pay the bills, then steal away in their free time to capture what really interests them. But since moving here from Florida in the 90s, Hugo Ludeña has made the weddings and quinceañeras of Seattles Latino community his focus and passion. Instead of taking staged, routine snaps between bites of wedding cake, Ludeña waits for the telling candid, as shown in his new collection Recent Photographs (on display through Sept. 27). Shots of spraying champagne bottles and grooms flying through the air prove his eye for the moment. But hes also got quite the artists touch, evident in the glow of images like Chambelanes, in which young men looking like the kings of cool ride off to a quinceañera in a classic car. I remember enough high-school Spanish to be able to say, Me gustan las fotos. So will you. Greg Kucera Gallery, 212 Third Ave. S., 624-0770, www.gregkucera.com. 10:30 a.m.5:30 p.m. JOSHUA LYNCH
Tuesdays-Saturdays. Starts: Sept. 9. Continues through Sept. 27, 2008
