Tuesday, 20 May 2008
You could be forgiven for not being entirely sure what the phrase photojournalistic wedding photography means. How does this differ from ordinary run-of-the-mill wedding photography? Search for photojournalism and you'll find definitions related to a collection of images which form to tell a story. Which is a good start I think; perhaps photojournalistic wedding photography is the medium by which the story of your fairytale day is told ... well that's the soppy approach covered at least.The history of the photojournalist begins during the late 1800s, although restrictions on the way newspapers were printed meant that it didn't really peak into it's so called "Golden Age" until the start of the 1930s. This halcyon period remained until the end of the 50s, with a large majority of the big news publications of the time making their name principally through the stark and illuminating images which accompanied their stories. Of course this correlated with the time when the world was at war, and much of the photojournalistic work regarded as classic from this period reflects this fact.
There is a stark contrast, then, between photojournalistic wedding photography and it's war-torn origins. So how can photographs taken under such threatening conditions be at all related to the field of wedding pictures? Well there is actually an association of Wedding Photojournalists who describe their members as having a "candid, documentary approach" and "a distinctly artistic vision toward wedding photography".
So I guess we can assume that photojournalistic wedding photography implies a certain dynamic style, one which tells a story, in a truthful and honest fashion. The results will not be the frozen poses which seek to create a mood artificially; rather they will reflect the mood of the day. Your wedding photographer will act as a fly on the wall capturing the guests, the conversations and the events as they unfold. If you want a document of your wedding, a frame by frame retelling of your marriage story, then this is the best type of photographer for you.
