When I showed up to Beth & Simon’s wedding in the Southern Highlands of NSW I hadn’t met them yet. This is pretty unusual for me as I really feel like good story-telling as a wedding photographer is actually mostly about good story-listening. Really understanding where your couple are coming from, what they’re about and what their unique story is. So when I showed up the ceremony and realised Simon was in a wheelchair. My heart seriously panicked for a moment. I’d never photographed a couple where on of them had a disability before and my primary concern was making sure they got amazing wedding pictures even though I felt totally and utterly unprepared.
Simon was in a car accident years before, tragically losing the use of his legs well before he and Beth met. Their love story absolutely blew me away. Simon’s personality was so powerful and kind. His resilience and optimism was so palpable. I was just drawn to him. Beth too, I just couldn’t, not be moved by the love they shared, the sacrifice the power of that choice to love beyond all obstacles. It really took my breath away.
At this point in my photography journey I had been photography weddings full time for 5 years already so I wasn’t exactly a rookie. But the tail spin I found myself in with about 5 minutes before the bride arrived had me literally running to google images to search for “wheelchair wedding poses” because I had no idea in that moment what I was going to do about the massive height difference with Simon sitting in his chair for all the photos.
The other problem was. We weren’t in the city. We were in the Southern Highlands on a farm. a long way from any concrete to roll around on. Dirt, long, grass and sticks surrounded us. I wasn’t sure how I was going to make this work.
Over the years and a few experiences like this I’ve now come to the realisation that for a creative, being unprepared is actually a massive gift to help you create something unique. When we’re fully prepared and ready to just roll in like a pro and know exactly what we want to do we often just do boring variations of things we’ve done before. We create our own cliches and don’t make art that’s unique or really very beautiful.
Keeping an element of the unknown and unprepared nearby is actually a tool that creatives need to find ways to keep in their toolbox to allow a more fluid process of intuitive reaction to the moments in front of them and making something that’s ultimately fresh and just flows.
It was such a gift Beth & Simon gave me by not trying to prepare me with the fact that Simon was in a wheelchair so I could try plan out all these clever poses. They were so easy to work with and had such an organic and unflustered energy about them it made it such a breeze to just roll with what they were already doing and document their incredibly beautiful wedding, (even in the rain for part of it)
I’ll pop a few of their beautiful wedding photos here but you can also head to the full post of their wedding, which I’ll link.
More info: joshuamikhaiel.com.au
End of ceremony
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