A Velvet Hand, a Hawk’s Eye

I think it was on here I saw an article that asked, “What is Reportage Wedding Photography?” I’m not keen on labels but if I were, “Reportage” might describe the style of wedding photography I have been practicing for the past 20 years. I’m sure others will disagree… This is how it began, and continues for me. I often meet couples that say stuff like, “we don’t like having our picture taken, so we would like you to be our wedding photographer.” Or “We don’t want to turn our wedding into a photo shoot but we would love to have a comprehensive record of our day.”

So, from listening, I started to get ideas about using the unobtrusive storytelling methodology of some of my “photo-heroes”, especially the main man for me, Henri Cartier-Bresson. HCB’s essay, “The Decisive Moment” that he wrote in 1952, has stuck with me throughout my 35 year career. I have had as many copies of that as I have of Pink Floyd’s, “Dark Side of the Moon” and I still read it every now and then, I occasionally listen to Pink Floyd as well.

So with HCB’s words ringing in my ears I set myself some ground rules for making an observational, wedding document: 1 I will try to remain as unobtrusive as possible. 2 While being sympathetic to the day and those involved, I will endeavour to deliver a factual document of the wedding. 3 I will act as an impartial observer, like “a fly on the wall”. Not direct or engage the subject of the photograph and not influence, beyond the selection process, the content of the image. Sure… most couples will want some portraits and 4 or 5 group pictures. These will be the only pictures I set up, and I’ll make those with the minimum of disruption and with speed and respect for the day.

My aim is to tell the story of a wedding day. In order to do that I will use the same story-telling techniques photojournalists have used since the invention of photography, well since Oskar Barnack gave us 35mm cameras in 1925 anyway. I will make establishing shots of the venue, the details and preparations. I seek out images that relay moments of joy, humour, love and tenderness; I will observe and record a father’s pride and a child’s excitement.

Most importantly, the images are all made with a pupose. When it comes to designing the album I will continue to employ techniques that are used by storytellers.

There will be sequences and series of images that make sense of one another to create a coherent story. Just occasionally I may find a single image that can stand on it’s own and is loaded with narrative, but, as Henri Cartier-Bresson says, this is rare. … Most of all I will approach the wedding day with a velvet hand and a hawk’s eye.

Steven Taylor