From the very first wedding we photographed (or even second-shot for, back at the tender age of 16!), candid documentary photography has always been our passion. We pored over street photography books, were committed subscribers to LFI magazine for their largely reportage style content and, despite not yet finding our voice, were always most excited when an aspect of spontaneity revealed itself in our work.
But looking through our portfolio at the time, you certainly wouldn’t know it.
When we finally made the decision to showcase only the kind of unposed, spontaneous photographs that truly excite us we were, in truth, unsure whether there would be an audience out there that loved this type of photography like we did. Back then the now abundant subcategories of wedding photography had not yet really emerged; the best wedding photographer was often seen as the one who could get the best confetti shot and portraits were very much seen as THE creative part of the coverage. But ever since we made that decision to pursue and display only the images that represent our true passion and creativity, rather than taking the more obvious commercial path, we have spoken to (and photographed) so many incredible couples who feel the same way that we do – that the most exciting and meaningful photographs are those that defy convention; those that we could never plan or predict ahead of time; only recognise them when we see them forming in front of us.
Certain photographs truly demonstrate the evolution of that photographic journey and the featured image above is one such image. Back when we started, the overwhelming natural instinct would be to abandon our current viewpoint and chase after the flower girls and page boys running towards the ceremony gazebo. That moment of childish joy is an idyllic image; a perfect representation of the “fairy tale” wedding look that we initially subscribed to in our photography (and a perfectly valid and beautiful photograph to take). But our instinct now is not just to pursue beauty at all cost but to ask ourselves always “is there more here?” Is there more we can bring to this scene; a way to ground the image or subvert expectation? In this particular case we didn’t have to look far: by holding our position rather than chasing the pre-conceived narrative of the moment we could see what was in front of us: the perfect comedic juxtaposition provided by the best man as he stands, facing the camera, cigarette hanging loosely from his mouth, his expression inviting us to consider how he feels about the “romance” of this moment in time.
Lucky for us, it was exactly this type of image that Annie and Jonny connected with in our work. On a wedding day we will take romantic photographs, we will take comedic photographs, loving moments, oddities in reality, big beats, small beats and everything in between. But the work we share is the imagery that we hope you will connect with most strongly. It won’t be everyone’s cup of tea, indeed many will undoubtedly say we should just have cropped in on that beautiful moment of children running, baskets in hand, toward the wedding ceremony. But that is precisely the point – we don’t strive for universal appeal, we seek like-minded souls. Because when, as with the wonderful Annie & Jonny, we really connect and understand one another, we can truly be your eyes on a day bursting with hidden visual treats.
And on the particular day in question, surrounded by our couple’s amazing friends and family at Surrey’s beautiful Lythe Hill Hotel, “bursting” truly was the word …
