Reportage, Documentary, Photojournalistic wedding photography – what do they mean?
In general, those three phrases mean the same thing. The documentary, photojournalistic or reportage photographer at your wedding should be taking many unposed photographs. The intention is to document, or report, on your wedding. (I think ‘Photojournalistic’ is an American phrase, but meaning the same thing.)
‘
Years ago, sometimes even today, every photograph at a wedding was posed. Your photographer would have arrived with a tripod, and during the reception a long list of group photos would be taken, with people leaving the reception to pose with the bride and groom in front of his or her camera (which rarely moved.) The photographer was in control and every photo was contrived.
‘
This was unwieldy (because of the tripod) and time consuming (because they had to get their subjects to stop and pose.) Some photographers gave all of us a bad reputation by holding up proceedings at the church and reception. Ministers don’t like the bride’s arrival delaying the ceremony, and venues worry about guests sitting down for the wedding breakfast on time.
‘
The fashion for documentary and reportage wedding photography came out of new technology (firstly highly sensitive film, latterly highly sensitive digital cameras) which enabled the photographer to get the camera off a tripod and use less lighting equipment and so be more mobile, and the desire for the wedding party to spend less time posing and more time enjoying themselves, while still getting a record of their day.
‘
However, getting it right is hard to do. i spend an inordinate amount of time looking at other photographers web sites, and there’s many who produce wonderful, unobtrusive, captured moments time after time. However, most of the documentary and reportage photographs I see on the web are not ‘unobtrusive’ and ‘unposed.’ They’re recreations of the reality of the day. You can tell when the photo of a Bride grinning from the window of her wedding car is contrived (“Can you smile and look happy, please!”) or the genuine emotion in that split second as the car arrived. It’s the difference between your photographer controlling the events at your wedding and your photographer not interfering, but observing, and capturing the emotions of the day as they happen.
‘
I would hope that all professional wedding photographers understand the technical side of their cameras, and comprehend what good composition is. The difference between a good documentary photographer and the others is that they don’t disrupt the flow of events – we wait for the content of each frame to align itself into a great composition and we don’t recreate events at the wedding.
‘
Many will agree with me that the greatest documentary, or reportage, photographer of all time is Henri Cartier-Bresson. He set the standard of the genre, a standard that some of us try and achieve in our wedding photography. He is also know for his phrase to describe his greatest photographs: “The Decisive Moment.” This is when the elements that make up the content within a frame align themselves to make a composition that is greater than the sum of the constituent parts. To achieve this requires complete concentration, the ability to predict what will happen next, and perfect timing. I am certainly no Cartier-Bresson, but his photographs set the bench-mark that I aim for.
‘
Of course, even I pose people! There are family group shots which are a pre-requisite for any wedding, and the photos of the Bride and Groom that will appear on their parents’ walls and Grandmother’s mantel pieces. But all too often, I hear that the Bride and Groom’s favourite photograph of themselves is one that I’ve taken when they weren’t aware I was taking it (nike the photo of Sarah and James above.)
‘
It’s often said that wedding photographers don’t sell photos, they sell memories. I really hope that the memories of your wedding are not of your photographer telling you how and where to stand, to smile, sit, hug, and so on. I sincerely hope that looking at your photos brings back memories of your happiest day.
‘
My thanks to my colleague Steven Taylor Photography, whose own blog post inspired this one.
‘
Sara and Eliot’s wedding
Sara and Eliot planned the perfect DIY wedding at their home.
The caterers (Heritage Portfolio) the marquee (Henderson’s) and Sara’s bespoke dress (by Lorna Tate) came from outside sources, but the rest of the day was theirs alone: a Civil Ceremony in a wooded glade, with pipers from Sara’s father’s old regiment; flowers by themselves, friends, family and Norwegian relatives – what more could you want?
Well, only enthusiastic ceilidh dancing long into the night, capped by a surprise fireworks display set off by the groom himself!
Here are the usual ten photos – there are many more on the ‘order photos‘ page.
Glencorse House wedding photography
Dawn and Ewan’s wedding couldn’t have been more perfect. For once this summer, it didn’t rain. When you add that to an amazing dress, a cute flower girl, the fantastic Glencorse House and it’s private kirk (and its staff) Roddy from Reel Time piping, and dancing to Cut the Cake and plenty of friends and family, you certainly have a recipe for a wonderful day!
Here are a few photographs, but if you want to see more click here for the order prints page.
PS: I forgot to say that this was the first wedding I’ve been to where the minister quoted from a Bruce Springsteen song!
What is a Wedding Photojournalist?
There’s going to be a brief hiatus on blogs about specific weddings, as there’s several of them that I’ve photographed, or will photograph, where the bride and groom don’t want to appear on the web in any form.
Instead, I’d thought I’d put down my thoughts on various aspects of the wedding industry, starting with my own little niche, wedding photojournalism.
It’s easy to tell you what wedding photojournalism isn’t – we’ve all been guests at weddings where the photographer has taken over, where he’s directed the scene in front of him, where he’s obviously more interested in getting ‘his’ images than the photographs that the bride and groom will treasure for years to come. We’ve all been to weddings where the bride and groom have disappeared for an hour and have missed out on all the chat, congratulations and gossip at the reception.
I was once a guest at a friend’s wedding where the minister had to demand that the photographer leave, because after the third time of asking he had continued to place himself between the couple and the minister!
None of the above applies to a good wedding photojournalist, because their aim is to unobtrusive and observational. Our goal is to tell the story of your day, as it happens, with no intervention. Like any good story, there are big dramatic moments, two main characters, small details, and any number of smaller characters and sub-plots! Of course, to keep everyone happy, there’s a need to take some formal family group photos, but these don’t get in the way of our main objective – to photograph the reality of your day, without interfering.
So, instead of posing the bride in great light, I move myself and my camera so that the right light falls on her. Instead of putting the bride into dramatic, but awkward poses I wait until she relaxes and appears beautiful and natural in her own right.
Experience counts too: I know there’s a very good chance that during the signing of the register the bride and groom will examine and admire each others rings. And I’m ready to catch the expression on the Bride’s fathers face when he sees for the first time, his daughter ready for the ceremony.
There really is no shortage of great photographs to be captured at any wedding. You just need to keep your eyes open, concentrate, and be ready for any eventuality. The result is credible photographs showing genuine expressions, emotions, joy, love tenderness, excitement and…. I could go on, because every wedding features everything I’ve ever wanted to photograph!
However, the best thing about presenting the reality of their wedding to a bride and groom is that I know that the photographs will be looked at for generations to come. They won’t go out of fashion or style and will be only dated by what people are wearing.
Below are a few photos from over the years that I hope give you some idea what a documentary photographer, or wedding photojournalist, can do – capturing the reality of your day, not creating it.
Emma and Sam’s Wedding in Edinburgh
It’s not often that you feel sea sick at a wedding – but the winds that were already blowing hard for Emma and Sam’s wedding on Inchcolm Island turned into a force 9 gale for the return ferry trip to South Queensferry!
Luckily, Emma and Sam both realised there was nothing they could do about the weather, and they continued to enjoy their day. While photographing Emma, her father and her bridesmaids walking up the path to Inchcolm Abbey, all I could hear above the wind were their shrieks of laughter as they tried to stay on their feet!
We then headed off to the Museum of Scotland, and decided not to take advantage of their rooftop terrace (!) for photos, mamaging to get some lovely portraits inside instead.
There was enthusiastic dancing that evening inside the Museum, and even Emma’s godson wanted to join in the dancing, despite the fact he was on all fours!
There’s a small selection here, and another 75 photos can be seen on the ‘order-photos’ page
