DOCUMENTARY WEDDING PHOTOGRAPHER
Finding beauty in the unposed
YORK PLACE STUDIOS
Unposed • Unscripted • Unforgettable
CHECK YOUR DATEWhat is a documentary wedding photographer?
At York Place Studios, we approach documentary photography with an artist’s eye and a street photographer’s instinct—finding beauty in the spontaneous and the unscripted. As a photographer duo, brother and sister team Liam & Dominique Shaw focus not just on what your day looked like, but how it truly felt.
"Two of the best documentary wedding photographers in the world"
Documentary wedding photography - artistic, discrete, unposed.
What documentary wedding photography isn’t ...
Documentary is not about "paparazzi style" long lens "hiding in the bushes" photography, it's simply about remaining immersed in the moment and capturing the action from within, rather than looking at it from the outside.
Documentary wedding photography - For couples who hate cliché and love real moments
Laughter has the longest memory
Based in the UK, travelling anywhere.
Documentary style wedding photographer vs reportage style vs traditional- what's the difference?
Documentary wedding photographers are known under many terms – “reportage wedding photography”, “wedding photojournalist”, and “candid wedding photographers” are just a few of the phrases associated with unposed wedding photography. Ultimately though, whilst each photographer has their own intepretation of the art-form, they all amount to the same thing – prioritising spontaneity over staging, and real emotion over pre-planned poses.
Whilst all wedding photographers will, of course, shoot parts of the day without interference, the difference is the documentary photographer’s commitment never to take you out of the moment, always prioritising natural smiles and interaction over any preconceived concept of where beauty may be found.
What the industry says
"Their passion for what they do married to an iconic backlog of photos is both engaging and infectious."
"To a lot of people, when they think 'documentary wedding photography' they think 'York Place Studios' - they really are that synonymous with the craft"
"They are incredibly passionate about shooting with a true documentary eye. Nothing is staged or posed but still very intentional and crafted."
Get a feel for how we see things.
Why choose a documentary photographer for your wedding?
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Relax and Enjoy Your Day — No awkward posing or constant direction, just natural moments captured as they happen.
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Save Time on Photos — Spend more time with your guests instead of stuck in long photo sessions.
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Stress-Free Experience — We blend into the background, so you won’t even notice we’re there.
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Capture the Unexpected — From spontaneous laughter to emotional tears, every authentic moment is documented.
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True Storytelling — Your photos will tell the full story of your day, not just staged snapshots.
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Perfect for Camera-Shy Couples — No pressure to “perform” for the camera — just be yourselves.
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Flexible and Adaptable — We work with your schedule and style, capturing moments as they unfold naturally.
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Memories That Last — Photos full of life and emotion, not stiff or forced smiles.
The documentary approach- how we photograph a wedding
So how does it work on the day?
On the face of it, our documentary approach to wedding photography seems pretty simple: we just capture things as they happen! We won’t ask anything of you on the day; we don’t need you to pretend to do anything or “smile for the camera”, and you can never be in the wrong position. Just ignore us and get on with enjoying every last second with friends and family.
Of course, whilst you’re busy having the best time of your lives free of distractions, there’s a little bit more to it for us as your photographers …
As documentary wedding photographers we’re not just looking for the big scheduled beats. We’ll capture them, of course, but just as important to us are the hidden stories; the moments of humour and genuine connection between the guests and their environment. We’ll be working non-stop to find and portray all of them on camera to create photographs that move, remind and surprise you. We don’t do “quick snaps”; every single moment is carefully considered, composed and communicated to create the most arresting image and the most powerful story from the scene.
To capture those natural, relaxed, off-guard moments we try to put everyone at ease. Our cameras are small and discrete, we don’t use distracting flash and, we don’t pretend to be invisible, we hide in plain sight. As we’re not asking anything of anyone people simply get used to ignoring us and we can be at the heart of the action without affecting the scene.
What our couples say
"Oh my lord, these guys are good. I’d give them six stars if I could ... They absolutely captured the atmosphere, the feeling, the love. The photos are intimate, expressive, stunningly artistic. And they are SO NICE to deal with – professional, passionate, lovely. And they put in a shift! ... I literally cannot recommend these guys highly enough, we are beyond delighted with what they delivered."
"These guys really are the masters of their art. I didn’t want traditional, staged photos for our wedding and was looking for something more spontaneous and humorous. I came across Dom and Liam’s website and was blown away. They were exactly what I was looking for ... They really were amazingly friendly and easy to work with. And then the photos arrived… oh my God!!! Unbelievable!
Photography & Videography.
Two teams. One Vision
- Photography
- Videography
When you book both our documentary wedding photographers and videographer together, you’re getting a team of individual artists, each focused on their own craft, collaborating with a shared, intuitive approach. With two photographers capturing stills and a separate filmmaker focused solely on motion, we’re able to cover every angle without staging or interruption. Because we work so closely together, we anticipate the same moments without stepping on each other’s toes, resulting in a seamless, unposed story told beautifully in both photo and film, and ensuring your guests never feel crowded.
Camera-shy? No problem!
Natural, unguarded - you've never looked better together.
Whilst we’ll happily take a few coordinated couple shots or individual portraits on request, often, the most striking “portraits” happen when you don’t even realise a camera is near. These are our documentary portraits: unposed, unprompted, and completely true to you.
Street photography
meets weddings
Our street photography roots help us to tell the stories that nobody else is seeing.
We apply these same principles to wedding photography, working moment to moment, immersed in the scene in front of us.
In street photography, simply recording an occurrence is not enough. To create art, every element must be balanced, every fraction of the frame carefully composed and considered. Photographs should not rely solely on memory, they should speak directly to the soul.
To us, wedding photographs should be no different.
Still not sure? Read some deep dives into the world of the documentary wedding photographer and how team York Place see your wedding day.
Street Wedding Photography
Read more about how we incorporate street photography practice and philosophies into our documentary wedding photographer style and the benefits to you.
What is documentary wedding photography?
An in-depth explanation of everything documentary and how the documentary wedding photographer differs from other styles.
But what about the family shots?
Whilst unposed, documentary photography is our passion, it’s your day, and if you’d like to have a few coordinated group shots (or portraits) we’re of course more than happy to accommodate.
But, whether you choose to have formal group shots or not, family groupings are always something we’re looking to capture for you in every part of the day.
Our cameras are never down between the groups – we’re always looking for opportunities to create documentary style group shots with genuine spontaneity, which can often reveal a deeper relationship than simply family members standing side by side.
See some of our favourite unposed, family groupings
Our goal is to create a multitude of group shots without any posing at all. Photographs that reveal real family dynamics and relationships and that you can proudly hang on your wall.
You might be wondering ...
Can I still have some posed groups and portraits?
Absolutely! Whilst, as documentary wedding photographers, unposed spontaneity is our passion, that doesn’t mean that we don’t value groups and portraits. If you’d like a few more directed shots then just ask us in the run up to the day (or even on the day itself) and we’ll be happy to accommodate. And, as there are two main photographers rather than the typical solo shooter / second shooter arrangement, when posed shots are being taken the documentary coverage doesn’t stop. One of us will handle the portraits whilst the other continues to shoot your guests and also look for alternative takes on the moments between the formal shots.
Whilst we don’t show posed images on our website, we still put maximum effort into making them perfect when asked to take them. Just get in touch if you’d like to see some examples.
Do you travel for weddings? And will it cost me extra?
We’ll shoot a wedding just about anywhere, and there are no extra charges for travel within Britain (assuming it’s a single day shoot). Our main base is in Yorkshire but we typically shoot around 50% of our weddings in London and the South of England.
Don’t worry about timings though – if there’s a journey on the day we’ll allow double the time we should need, and if it’s over an hour and a half away we’ll book ourselves accommodation nearby for the night before your day.
Isn't having two photographers going to be more intrusive?
It may sound somewhat counterintuitive, but we find that having two photographers means we can actually be less intrusive than working as a single shooter.
We (Dominique & Liam) are brother and sister and have worked together for so long that we know instinctively where the other will be, so there’s no rushing around or panic – we always know the other person will already be where the next piece of action is happening.
And because we’re a truly collaborative team there’s no ego between us – we don’t care who gets the shot as long as it’s captured beautifully. So you’ll rarely see us in the same place at the same time – we’ll be working to capture multiple perspectives instead.
Will you still capture the details and decorations?
We know from personal experience how much work goes into planning and designing even the tiniest details of your wedding and we hugely value their importance.
We’ll always look to capture the details and look of your day and make sure it’s all recorded for you, and we’ll typically do that in two ways:
1. The “safe” shots – one of us will typically find some time to go and photograph the room before the guests are seated and we’ll include those images in your full gallery as a beautiful record of your wedding styling.
2. Living Decor – We’ll also look to photograph those same details throughout the day as they’re brought to life by the people around them. Visit our details gallery for some creative examples