“All there is is the pictures”

Firstly, ask yourself this: What do you want to see in your wedding photographs? Then hold that thought for a moment.

“All there is is the pictures. I’m irrelevant to the pictures.  The artist is irrelevant once the work exists.” – Gary Winogrand (1928-1984)

Winogrand was a social documentary photographer of extraordinary intelligence. As a teacher, he was known for his evasion and wit, but was very fondly thought of by students. What I loved about this quote is how it distinguishes the work from the photographer, and it made me think about the real relationship you have with your wedding photographs.

As a wedding photographer, I always need to (perhaps not as coldly as Winogrand!) make the distinction between the artist and the art. Ask yourself this: What do you want to see in 5, 10, 20 years time? An expression of the photographers capabilities, or an extension of who you are and what brought you together in the first place?

I’m passionate about making beautiful and engaging work for my clients, but as much as I love creating these images, they are not my own. So when you see the work, you see something personal & real about the subject. You don’t see any weird pose or any strange effects.

You see there are a lot of “trends” in the wedding (photography) industry, and following them is the best way to make sure your photographs age really badly. I’m not being dramatic, it’s reality, as history shows us only too easily. How about a B&W image with a flower still in colour? Or a colour image with a ‘vintage’ filter over the top? Or a couple walking down the road, with one jumping and clapping his heals together? Or how about everyone jumping in the air at once? Maybe some 1980’s soft focus? So maybe the best gift to yourself is to seek a photographer who produces work of a timeless quality.

The truth is those type of gimmicks aren’t only about your photographs aging badly.  As when you view the image, the trend is exactly what you’ll see, rather than any sort of meaningful documentation of your lives. You’ll see the cheesy filter, the strange pose, the weird creation rather than any meaningful photograph. And let’s be honest, if you seek a photographer who follows these trends, it’s likely they simply don’t know any other way. They don’t see the real story. Only the surface.

Of course, we know you don’t want to see those trends. You want something far more authentic, something with substance. Because when the day has passed, the car has drove away, the flowers have wilted, and the dress has been worn, “All there is is pictures”. And as the years pass, I won’t expect you to care about the use of light or the expertise. I won’t expect you to care about the planning or preparations which went into each image. I’m irrelevant to the pictures, but you are everything to the photographs.

This is why you need someone who creates a timeless document of your wedding day. Someone who is going to put your experiences and memories first – as this is what the photographs are, above everything else.

But what is timeless wedding photography? Well, here are some examples below…