allisterfreeman

[allisterfreeman]

Documentary Wedding Photography

What is documentary wedding photography (and what it is not)... and why I choose to photograph weddings with this particular style and approach.

I've been a documentary wedding photographer since 2004. During my photographic career I've seen many over and misused terms flying around the industry for different wedding photography styles, but none more contentious than ‘documentary wedding photography’! It’s a term that has been so distorted that it now unfortunately conjures up images of wedding photographers draped in cameras with huge lenses ‘sniping off’ headshots like crazed paparazzi, producing isolated black and white portraits.

I would like to dispel that myth! Wedding photography documentary, contrary to all the misuses of the term, is about an unobtrusive approach to a style of wedding photography which seeks to avoid directing how the day unfolds, lets the couple and guests enjoy themselves and often leaves people wondering if there was even a photographer even documenting the wedding.

Wedding Photography Documentary

A documentary wedding photographer is often referred to as ‘reportage wedding photographer’ or 'wedding photojournalist' however essentially, they all refer to the same thing - an observational and unobtrusive approach to photographing a wedding. Put simply, each wedding I document with the same ‘hands off’ photo style, allowing you to completely enjoy what will no doubt be one of the most important days in your whole life. Finding the right wedding photographer is an exceptionally important task.

Documentary style wedding photography records very genuine moments occurring throughout a wedding day. What's more, if the wedding documentary approach has been truly mastered, the style of photography collections and individual pictures will convey subject and scene honestly and with authenticity. For me, the aforementioned values far outweigh any qualities that, perhaps, a pretty but relatively meaningless portrait could... Subjects, as with any documentary style photography, should be photographed within context, conveying the true story and atmosphere in pictures. Documented wedding images should be able to tell the viewer what is happening in the moment or scene without the need for any further explanation.

Weddings are an absolute gold mine for the discerning, documentary wedding photographer - the variety of emotions over the course of the day makes a wedding day really quite unique - the pre wedding ceremony nerves and then the joy of being married, this is often followed by a touch of sadness when, perhaps during the speeches, absent family and friends are reflected upon, then wrapping things up with the high energy and elation of dancing and entertainment.

My Documentary Style

Ultimately, documenting a wedding is about creating a beautiful, elegant and completely timeless set of emotive photos that fully tell the story of your wedding day. Done properly, artistically-skilled, unobtrusive documentary wedding photographers will create a treasured family heirloom that will be looked at time and again throughout the years and will take you back to the day with utter clarity and honest emotional impact.

It’s very real and I often find myself feeling immensely proud to have been hired to document such personal moments. This isn’t just photography of a wedding, or at least as most people know it, this is photo documentary of life - powerful, emotional wedding photography documentary, photography of those little things that often go unnoticed, those subtle emotions and nuances unique to each wedding, to each family and to every couple.

It’s touching to know so many people place this responsibility in my hands, it’s a very real and genuine honour to earn my living making very personal documentary wedding photography collections that I know will become family heirlooms.

A documentary wedding photographer’s work should always evoke a reaction. The authenticity, or more ‘believability’, that I look to produce in my documentary coverage and across the wedding day coverage is worth so much more than just a pretty picture or regimented formal family photograph.

Essentially you’re a storytelling wedding photographer, presenting the narrative of the day through a body of documentary photography. Though at an individual level, each unique wedding photograph needs to work on its own and depict genuine, observed moments, and not just isolated headshots

Individual documentary pictures need to convey subject and scene honestly, with authenticity and importantly with no direction from the photographer

Subjects should be photographed within context whenever achievable in order to more effectively convey narrative

Photographs should tell the viewer what is happening in the moment or scene, without the need for further explanation on what an image represents. It’s not just about being an unobtrusive wedding photographer, there’s so much more to it than that

It’s a focus on storytelling, on creating a faithful and elegant documentary record of the most important day of your life. The most professional documentary wedding photographers will even find and capture moments and stories that you didn’t see on the day and tell a story that you may have been too focused to see unfolding around you.

[allisterfreeman]

Are we there yet?

‘It’s been pretty enlightening researching into sources for the essay, I’ve come across photographers I’d never heard of plus ones I’d followed many moons ago and sadly forgotten to keep up to date with. It’s been so useful (and encouraging) to revisit work that strikes such a chord with me. 

The photographers/resources that are new to me have been either recommended by other photographers or I’ve stumbled across through research. The work of one of these new resources, Jason Orton, is really drawing me in. It’s so relevant to what I’m looking to achieve through my own work (which I felt lacked substance until seeing work like Jason’s)...

350 miles: An Essex Journey

“a striking, if occasionally bleak, portrait of the country’s coastline...” 

Ref: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/destinations/europe/united-kingdom/galleries/350-Miles-An-Essex-Journey/

More to follow...

[allisterfreeman]

http://www.messynessychic.com/2016/10/26/for-over-40-years-this-guy-photographed-the-same-buildings-as-he-watched-them-decline/

[allisterfreeman]

Why should it matter IF coastal trades are in demise?

Interesting to see the differing perspectives of the Daily Mail and Guardian newspapers in my two previous posts...

[allisterfreeman]

Slowly piecing together a clearer theme and questions (or set of) for my photographic essay.  So far, ‘The demise of coastal trades’ is the front runner, though still an exceptionally broad theme. I hope to, over the coming weeks, approach this theme from a much more concise perspective and line of questioning. I’m very interested in understanding... a) why people are drawn to an area of coast b) how the area makes them feel and c) why they come to particular stretches of beach, coastal towns and cities I plan to connect this interest with the demise of trade theme by examining the sensory trigger of these aforementioned feelings, essentially the smell and sound of the sea (as well as, of course, the visual) trigger nostalgia, from family holidays on the beach to vinegary fish and chips, lary arcades and popular, iconic piers - something 99% of the UK population will have memories of and synonymous with the British Isles, or more, what it is to be British.

“Something intangible but powerfully and intimately linked to a sense of Britain” ...Mark Power, http://www.markpower.co.uk/

Also keen to explore how the increased pressure on society, to be more sustainable, resourceful and eco-minded, is (potentially) causing the slow demise of coastal trades and communities. If I can link this, somehow, back to mass consumerism, I feel the question would be more complete and hard hitting.

[allisterfreeman]

Concepts & issues

Early research and development of concepts and issues for essay...

Issue: The importance of preservation, conservation and the survival of the UK coastline and man’s impact on the surrounding landscape through mass consumerism.

The work of Jem Southam is particularly relevant to this issue, with photo essays charting man’s impact on various landscapes and environments through process, this is especially evident in his ‘Rockfalls and Rivermouths’ and ‘The Rockfalls of Normandy’ projects.

Resources:

Jem Southam. (2017). Rockfalls and Rivermouths. Available: http://charlesisaacs.com/exhibitions/exhibit_info.php/2. Last accessed 01.03.17.

Jem Southam. (2017). The Rockfalls of Normandy. Available: http://charlesisaacs.com/exhibitions/exhibit_info.php/8. Last accessed 01.03.17.

Issue: Why people are drawn to the coast, how it makes them feel and why they come to particular stretches of beach, to escape, to think.

Mark Power’s project ‘The Shipping Forecast’ is very relevant here. A beautifully executed photo essay with families enjoying the beach and UK coastline, juxtaposed against the graft of coastal trade and activity.

“Power's photographs are a response to the clash between the pictures built up in his imagination since childhood and the reality of the places he found.”

Resources:

Mark Power. (1995). The Shipping Forecast. Available: http://www.markpower.co.uk/Photographic-projects/THE-SHIPPING-FORECAST. Last accessed 01.03.17.

Magnum Photos. (2010). The Shipping Forecast. Available: http://inmotion.magnumphotos.com/essay/shipping-forecast. Last accessed 01.03.17.

I’m quite interested in combining these two issues and reference photographer Simon Roberts for his ‘Pierdom’ series in which he charts UK piers from a distinctly fine art documentary stance, questioning their importance to local communities and to tourism. His images are also an appreciation of colour and tone as much as they are contextually complex.

Resources:

Simon Roberts. (2010-2013). Pierdom. Available: http://www.simoncroberts.com/work/pierdom/#PHOTO_0. Last accessed 01.03.17.

[allisterfreeman]

Intro

Research, reflections and thoughts during the development of fine art documentary projects.