2020 had a profound and lasting impact on the hopes and dreams of so many people around the world. As a wedding photographer based in the UK I’ve witnessed at first hand how upsetting it can be for couples to have their carefully made plans dashed at the last minute, and the ongoing uncertainty of not knowing whether their big day would ever go ahead as they’ed imagined. It certainly doesn’t compare to loosing a loved one to Covid-19, or to lose one’s job, but the events of last year have caused me to reflect on the importance of relationships, and on this series of pictures I made, long before our lives were blighted by lockdowns, travel bans, face masks, and social distancing.
The pictures were taken at one of the UK’s largest wedding fairs, where engaged couples, high on life and inseparable from one another, can go to see bridal fashion shows, gather inspiration and meet the wedding suppliers that could help turn their wedding plans into reality.
I took a stand at the wedding show and converted it into a walk-in studio, and I used a large format 4×5 inch vintage film camera. There were a few reasons for choosing this setup. Certainly in the UK, it’s quite rare for couples to have a studio portrait done. If couples do have an engagement shoot before their wedding, these are usually done outside, typically in a public park or a location that is of particular significance to them. Professional studio pictures are typically reserved for when a couple start a family. I wanted this series of pictures to resemble the kind of images Richard Avedon took in his series In the American West, and by Dutch photographer Rineke Dijkstra. I wanted to make the studio space inviting for the couples, but I also wanted them to be themselves in front of the camera. For that reason I chose a simple white backdrop and lit the frame in a very simple way. I also gave them very little or no direction, other than to explain the process and point out where they needed to stand. I wanted the pose they adopted, to be their own, and to show an awkwardness, if that’s how they felt in front of the camera, or to show how comfortable they are with one another. What I hadn’t predicted, but which I found really interesting was that some brides chose to come to the wedding fair alone, or with their mum, sister or bridesmaids, and I chose to photograph these groups as they were. In only one case, did a groom come to the fair on his own!
My choice of camera was also very deliberate. It’s an old fashioned large format camera made largely of mahogany wood. Quite apart from attracting attention (which was useful in a busy wedding fair) the camera forces the subject, and myself as the photographer, to slow down. Whilst I prepared the film and take a light reading, the subject has time to think about their pose, and while I focus the camera and make the exposure, the subject must stay absolutely still. As an experience, this is a million miles away from the spontaneity of a digital image or selfie, and so the dynamic is quite different. This was also good preparation for the second stage in the process in which I asked them to describe their dream wedding. These quotes accompany each picture and are at times funny, ambitious and occasionally a little sad, as the gap between dreams and reality start to become apparent to these lovebirds.
More info: marriedtomycamera.com
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