In his captivating photobook “Until Death Do Us Part,” French artist and collector Thomas Sauvin unveils a bizarre, heartwarming, and culturally rich wedding ritual where hospitality, community celebration, and tobacco intertwine.
The Beijing Silvermine: Salvaged from the Flames
To appreciate these photos, you first have to understand where they came from. The images in this book weren’t shot by a professional wedding photographer—in fact, they were nearly destroyed.
They are part of Sauvin’s monumental Beijing Silvermine project, an archive of over half a million color negatives that he painstakingly salvaged over the years from a recycling plant on the edge of Beijing. These negatives were being sold by the ton to be melted down for their silver nitrate content. By rescuing them, Sauvin preserved an unfiltered, raw, and deeply intimate look into the everyday lives of ordinary Chinese citizens during the post-Mao era.
Far from a casual habit, tobacco becomes a vital token of appreciation in these ceremonies, transforming the bride lighting a cigarette for every single male guest into a powerful social bridge of community gratitude.
The Wedding Ritual: Smoke and Gratitude
The core of Until Death Do Us Part focuses entirely on the unexpected, central role that cigarettes play in traditional Chinese wedding ceremonies.
According to custom, cigarettes are treated as a vital token of appreciation. As a gesture of gratitude for attending, it is customary for the bride to light a cigarette for each and every man invited to the banquet. Far from being a quick, passive moment, this interaction turns into a lively social bridge between the newlyweds and their community.
Games of Unprecedented Ingenuousness
Once the individual greetings are complete, the atmosphere shifts from polite gratitude to playful chaos. The bride and groom are invited by their guests to play an array of cigarette-smoking games.
These nuptial games are of an unprecedented ingenuity and creativity. Guests design elaborate, homemade contraptions—like hollowed-out gourds or multi-tiered cigarette holders—forcing the newlyweds to cooperate to light or smoke multiple cigarettes at once. It is a lighthearted hazing ritual meant to test the couple’s teamwork, spark laughter, and break the ice among the wedding party.
The newlyweds are thrust into cigarette-smoking games of unprecedented ingenuity—playful, chaotic, and bizarre hazing rituals designed by guests to test the couple’s teamwork and break the wedding ice.
Photos: Thomas Sauvin
Where Love and Death Walk Hand in Hand
Beyond the laughter, the smiles, and the festive atmosphere, the photobook carries a poignant, ironic undertone. The publication ultimately pays homage to a tradition in which love and death walk hand in hand.
The very element used to celebrate a brand-new life together, to toast to prosperity, and to cement a lifelong bond is also a toxic substance linked to mortality. This duality is beautifully mirrored in the physical design of the book itself, which is cleverly packaged inside a glossy, pocket-sized box that perfectly replicates a real Chinese cigarette pack (historically from brands like Double Happiness).
This publication serves as a poignant visual homage to a fleeting cultural tradition where love and death walk hand in hand, celebrating the birth of a new life together through the very smoke that shortens it.
A Recognized Masterpiece of Contemporary Photography
By turning discarded trash into a profound cultural archive, Sauvin created something truly timeless. It is no surprise that the book has achieved cult status among photography enthusiasts worldwide. Celebrated for its unique concept and brilliant execution, Until Death Do Us Part is now in its fifth edition and was recognized as one of the best photobooks of the year at the prestigious Fotobookfestival in Kassel in 2016.
It stands as a testament to the power of vernacular photography—proving that sometimes, the most profound insights into human culture are found in the things we choose to throw away.
5,30 x 8,30 x 2,10 cm / 108 pages
Hardcover, with a cigarette box
Date of publication: 2015
Publisher: Beijing Silvermine, 7th edition, printed in April 2025
