Documentary, reportage, observational, relaxed and informal wedding photography.

I think it’s pretty much common knowledge amongst my photographer friends that, for want of a better word, I consider myself a documentary wedding photographer. At least that’s what I used to consider myself to be.

If I were pressed to define the style of wedding photography by a couple who were considering me as their photographer I would use phrases that seem to be in common usage. Documentary, reportage, observation, relaxed, candid, informal – the list goes on. These are all phrases and terms that a couple will come across when they start their search for a wedding photographer. To some couples these phrases will mean something, to others they’ll just be buzzwords that they’ve picked up online that help give a name to the type of wedding photography they are hoping to have on the day.

If you’ve never hired a professional photographer before, or quite possibly never really given much though to photography at all, it’s easy to do a quick search around the internet. Find a few wedding photographers whose style you like and pick up on the terms they use to describe their work. You may find yourself before long using words like documentary, reportage, observational when it comes to talking about what you’d like on your wedding day. But what do they really mean?

Well, earlier this week I was privileged enough to share a room with some of the finest wedding photographers I know. We were all there to take part in a seminar on wedding photography which was being run by one of the top photographer teams in the UK (I’ve purposely not defined their style, for reasons which will become apparent). Some of the photographers I knew of and their work. Others, I’d not seen their work before, or knew anything about them. Obviously I got a chance to chat with them all over the course of the seminar. As the day went on, a thought started out in my mind. By the time we were looking at sample albums we’d all brought in of our work, that thought had crystallized into something.  That something being – none of us really during the course of the day had put a label on our own photography. We weren’t photojournalists, vintage, reportage, modern, traditional or any other label, we were just wedding photographers. Plain and simple.

On the drive home I thought about this some more.

Why this need for labels? Sure, to couples like yourselves who have never had to hire a wedding photographer before, it’s helpful to have a term that describes what it is you’re looking for. It’s like buying a car for the first time. Do you want a sports car, a compact, a 4×4, a touring, a sedan or a people mover? Labels help us define what we want. But what happens when those labels are wrong?

You may want a sports car, but what happens if you find someone who calls all his cars sports cars because that happens to be a ‘trendy’ term, when in fact he sells people movers?

This is why I think labels are a bit of a bad thing in wedding photography*. You may want just informal wedding photography, but end up with a documentary wedding photographer and be unhappy that there weren’t group shots of everyone from your wedding. You may want documentary photography and then be annoyed when the photographer takes you away for a three hour photo session with his shiny new portable flash heads.

In the musical ‘La Cage aux Folles’ there is a song ‘I am What I am’ when one of the characters, who has been hiding behind a mask, proudly announces to the word that he is what he is – no more, no less. Take it or leave it.

If we, as wedding photographers simply ditched the labels and said – ‘this is what we do’, either it connects with you or it doesn’t, I think we would be doing everyone a great favour.

My wedding photography isn’t technically documentary, it’s not ‘reportage’ (hell, I don’t think anyone actually knows what reportage photography technically means!) It’s not ‘modern’, it’s not ‘vintage’, it’s not ‘observational’.
It just is what it is.

It’s not for everyone, but for those people who connect with it, it’s the most perfect wedding photography in the world. It doesn’t need a label.

I am a wedding photographer.

*Alas, Google has decided that it’s convenient to shoe horn us all into tiny little niche groups and has propagated the use of labels which we’ll never throw off. So, I’m stuck playing this game of through necessity having to use labels to describe my work online.

Here is a post on another forum I made that was inspired by these two fine blogs

Documentary Wedding Photography: Banging the drum of a new era

An introduction to PjURE

Both of these websites contain work by photographers whom I admire and respect greatly. I applaud their efforts to raise the awareness of an approach to wedding photography that I find deeply satisfying.

…I read their initial post yesterday and agree with the majority of what they said there. At the moment I am still evolving my style into a more narrative driven approach, so technically it’s neither documentary, reportage, photojournalism nor anything else. It’s simply, my style.

Here’s the thing. There are buzzwords kicking about, and since the demise, or at least, death pangs, of ‘vintage’/'retro’ these have been documentary, reportage and photojournalism. It’s natural that people will seize on those phrases and co-opt them for their own use. After all, the percentage of potential clients out there who can make (or even know there is) a distinction between those three phrases and what they actually mean is fairly small. Unlike the vintage/retro movement, there isn’t just a Jean-Luc Picard button that you can press in Photoshop to make the photograph ‘documentary’ (A ‘make it so!’ for those who don’t watch Star Trek ).

There is far more to it than that, so it’s no wonder that those who are experienced practitioners of the ‘documentary’ arts, are going to take great pains to point that out and try to educate potential clients. That can only be a good thing, after all, now that people are starting to become more savvy and visually literate.

My only gripe, well, it’s not really a gripe, more an observation, is that photographers tend to get mired into semantics when discussing style, approach and form. Does Joe Public really care if technically ones work is documentary instead of photojournalism, or observational instead of reportage? The whole point of ‘documentary’ photography is to let the photographs do the talking. So why the need for an in-depth public statement about the approach? Surely the quality of work will make it blindingly obvious that the ham fisted black and white conversion of a child doing a Cute Thing, isn’t even in the same ball park as the visually rich, intelligently composed photographs you see from people at the top of their game. Hell, it’s not even the same sport.

I enjoy reading about the mindset and approach of photographers whose work I respect and admire. I understand that over all this hovers the all encompassing hand of the spoilt child known as Google ready to sweep up content to pass on to others. I appreciate that people take their work seriously and are genuinely passionate about their approach (as opposed to the ‘I love photos, me’ ‘passion’).
I applaud them for going out there and singing the praises of what is a very very difficult methodology of working.

However, it can come across as slightly ‘camera club-ish’ in the delivery of those words occasionally. Especially at the moment where there is a scramble to differentiate themselves from the ‘this week I’ll mostly be shooting documentary wedding photography‘ crowd. Buzzwords such as ‘relaxed’ and ‘informal’, have become almost the poster child words for ‘documentary wedding photography’, so it’s natural that those who do know the differences will take great pains to explain concepts such as context, juxtaposition, third effect, narrative and signifiers.

We’ve all met the boring anorak in the photography corner at some point in our lives. Let’s not end up with a bunch of anoraks in public talking about ‘documentary wedding photography’, but have interesting, engaging and easily accessible discussions.

The anorak discussions can be kept for those moments when photographers gather. A click of photographers if you will…

N.B – for the sake of typing I’ve used documentary as a blanket term.

Bridal Preparations Wedding Photography

Last week I was meeting with a couple to discuss their wedding photography plans and the topic of bridal preparations came up.

My wedding photography service covers the whole of your wedding day, from the bridal preparations, through until the first dance for one simple reason – your wedding day is a day, not little segments of a day that you have to choose to be photographed.

The bridal prep photographs are a big part of that day and serve two very important roles.

The first is that I photograph your wedding as if it were a story. Standing back and observing, I watch the day unfold before me, picking those right moments that will help tell you the story of your wedding when you look through your album.
Like any story, there are characters that the narrative revolves around – in this case, you and your partner! By photographing the bridal preparations it’s a great way to introduce the two main characters and set the scene for your wedding story.

The second is that, if you’re anything like the rest of us, your natural reaction when someone is around photographing you is to stop, look at the camera and smile (or run away!). The way I photograph your wedding is totally hands off. No direction, no asking you to pose looking longingly out the window, no arranging contrived images of wedding dresses hanging in trees. Just honest, simple beautifully observant photographs. If I need a wash of light to highlight that beautiful dress, I’ll move to find the best light. Not move the dress – it’s your wedding dress, not my prop department.

So, it’s only right that my main focus of the wedding photography should also not react to me being around. You want to see the emotions of your wedding day, the way you react with your friends, your mum, your sister or daughter – not how you react to me being there with a camera. Having me around during the hustle and bustle of the bridal preps means that you get used to me being there, and you’re able to ‘zone me’ out before the main part of the day gets underway. Everything that you think of when you think of bridal preparation photographs – the details, the shoes, the little bottles of perfume, the dusting of make-up across a table top – all these little moments are photographed, as they are, looking their most interesting and best – by me moving to find the best view – not me moving the items. Gorgeous photographs with no interference from me, and effortlessly from you.

For me, bridal preparations are the foundation of having fantastically amazing documentary photographs of your wedding day.
Hopefully this post has helped you share that view.

If you’d like to find out my availability for your wedding day, please, get in touch.

Portrait photography in Bury St Edmunds.

Since moving back to the UK in 2008 I’ve been concentrating on getting my wedding photography established. I had neglected the portrait side of my business a bit.
For a while now I’ve been teamed up with SK Clinic and Spa in Bury St Edmunds and we’ve been offering a ‘Model Me’ package.

This is a great chance to find that special gift, be it for Valentines day, Mothers Day or just a lovely little something to say ‘thanks for being a wonderful mum or daughter’.

The session itself takes place in the luxurious surroundings of SK Clinic and Spa, and you’ll be sure to enjoy the relaxed and casual photoshoot. Bring your mum, daughter or sister with you and they can join in the fun!

To book this fantastic offer, contact SK Clinic and Spa (01284 748 470) and ask for their Model Me package.

Of course, I also offer portrait sessions outside of SK in the Bury St Edmunds area. If you’d like to book me, or to know more, please give me a call on 01359 241 824.

Bury St Edmunds Portrait Photography

Bury St Edmunds Portrait Photography

Bury St Edmunds Portrait Photography