Emin Özmen Saray (the bride's mother), 48 kisses Muhammed Guliyeva, 20, now husband of her daughter Terane Sahverdiyeva, 17 before the wedding ceremony in Zarikumecu village.
To be a woman in Azerbaijan is
(...) above all to be a wife and a mother. Out of the capital in Baku, once girls reach sexual maturity, parents must wait for marriage proposals. The priority for a woman in rural areas is to marry young because she will have no alternative but to stay with her parents. Lerik, Azerbaijan. 2018. © Emin Ozmen/Magnum Photos with support from the Pulitzer Center © Emin Özmen
