Everything about weddings tend to be important to the T to call upon itself specialised attention in much exclusivity. And indeed with weddings being the life changing, definitive affairs that they are, all elements making up this ritual in existence need to be that much dwelt upon as well. And what more defining way in dwelling, for life again, upon each of these moments emerging as one of the most treasured, sacred even of ‘possessions’ than by materialising them indeed by the means of photographs? In follows therefore an immense reliance on the photographic cast and crew, of course armed with their repertoire of skill and the accompanying essentials of equipment, all set to assume that responsibility in preserving forever those once in a lifetime moments for future laughing and crying over them in togetherness.
The scene of course has not always been the same even when the settings and the emotions that played out on stage has managed to remain rooted in the more ideal essence of overwhelmingness. In its beginnings though, wedding photography has been a thing almost as old as photography itself. The definiteness might have been lacking then as being the quintessential element making memories out of every moment and finding stories to spin in every adhering to ritual but the fact that photography found exploration in the sanctified realm of such observances even back then speaks of the true importance that this exploration of the art commands as being an amazing medium in itself.
It though isn’t just the manner in which photographs are eked out from the wedding ceremony or the entire event itself that has undergone a key change. Equally evolving has been the location of the shoot that has moved out from studios to barge into the reception party holding banquet instead, allowing thus also for such changes to be effected that is capturing of not just the people involved but also the overall mood, of both emotional and aesthetic nature. And so has been the way and mode in capturing and posing, the devices involved of course, the technology enabling them that has all been subject to change and evolution and development in coursing through the dynamic passage of time.
Much like the entire reach of photography, opting to have pictures taken on one of the most important days of one’s life also was a matter dependent on the riches harboured by prospective clients. No wonder the first every wedding photograph happened to be one fitting then this demand of what the elaborateness of this specific form of art called for. Dating back to 1854 and portraying the royal couple Queen Victoria and Prince Albert in a look that however was only a recreation of their actual wedding more than a decade back, this first specimen in picturing conjugal beginnings would set the ground for similar and different such unfurling to follow in the years to come without however much widening of its scope at least till the second half of the 20th century.
The trend in wedding photos being clicked at the very venue of wedding though had set in quite early, with the years of the late 1860s already finding such opting for in treasuring precious moments as lifetime memories. But the job was easier said than done for the photographers who, limited by their relying on bulky and a too many number of devices and equipment and apparatus and the like as well as in some obvious technical shortcomings of proper lighting most prominently, found it inconvenient enough a demand to effortlessly deliver. This meant that photographing in studios still would rule the roost, with the star couple of the day having to make the physical ‘journey’ while embarking on the more important marital route of life.
The years and decades that ensued continued to see certain specks of variety in photographic trends and tendency within the wedding spectrum. But none of these ‘innovations’ so introduced would be enough to make wedding pictures the massive thing that it is today. In fact it wouldn’t be after the Second World War that the concept of capturing the entire wedding event and not just the people involved in very proper posing consciousness would come to gain traction. The phenomenon could be attributed indeed to the ‘wedding boom’ that came to characterise this period of time in history but what further aided this process in popularity was the advent of the portable camera technology during that era, both of which backed the other in scripting for wedding photography a new tale in exciting prospects galore.
This premise though in taking wedding photographs emerged out of a quirk that does not quite define the ‘demand’ of them in current times. Back then it were mostly military trained photographers that took to this pursuit in much passion, with amateurs as well chipping in by regularly turning up at wedding venues so as to take captures worthy enough of commanding ‘sales’ even if to just the couple pictured.
This peculiar approach in photographing might have been very random and one that did not dwell so much on the quality of the photographs produced but it still ended up setting in motion a process in competition in which studio photographers too were compelled almost to jump in. Even when it wasn’t most suiting of their cause, more adept photographers working otherwise in studios found themselves charting out newer expanses of ‘operation’ that at least upped the standard of this by then quite sought out after means in conjuring up memorable visuals of the wedding memory.
And yet the more modern approach in photographing weddings as what would find expression in current times, as largely alluded to by the contemporary style of wedding photography, would not come to be or even chart out its beginnings in that line of visualising well up until the 1970s. The dynamic, but now common or rather standard way in documenting and capturing wedding events and rituals with also the emotions involved playing through rather clearly, started to find expression around that time, offering a larger than life reminiscence of the still as significant wedding occurrence.
Availed out of a combination of the traditional style of posed photography and the photojournalistic craft in weaving representative (fairy)tales out of them, interspersed by the raw appeal of the candids, this eclectic manner in preserving the specialness of the entire wedding experience with not just the main event but also associated and extended and preluded happenings finding for themselves a frame to reside in makes for a very overwhelming manifestation of marriages as something truly ‘royal’ and worthy and sacred.
Wedding photography works- and works wonders indeed- because it captures much more than the smiles and the cries, the hues and the aesthetics and everything that so evidently pervades the feel of the place. Look closely into a really well clicked wedding photography and could almost hear the chants itself of the rituals or perceive the boisterous laughs that accompany the ceremonies and make out in much definiteness the entire ambience of what had been characterising of that special moment now frozen in time.
Even in its continuing evolution and development and manifestation as an industry, one that equally partakes of the pursuit in passion while furthering also the money motivations of it, the fore of wedding photography is one residing in the immense of what the summing up of the human emotions leads one to recline in, in much elation. And that explains why wedding photography has spanned out to be a core concept of every wedding- even those that do not particularly entertain the idea of lavish indulgence and excess extravagance.
In its essence, wedding photography sums up as impeccably the true experience of what wedding events are, in and outside their significance. Particularly in the modern consideration of it as a whole package in photos as well as in videos- wedding films to be more exact, what accrues is a peculiar identification to it by those actually represented in that making. Presenting a very personal depiction in much uniqueness of such happenings that are by all means rather general though, are wedding roundups as documentaries or albums or the like that afford a very overwhelming experience for the beholders of them.
Even in their more commonplace consideration as photos that is, wedding pics still speaks a thousand words, and perhaps in more assertion than what other clicks would do. Which is why hiring a wedding photographer and the entire team to craft a curated story telling of the entire emotions and experiences and efforts that culminates in this superlative display in pretty much every aspect through which life happens- from fashion and food and decor to customs and traditions and rituals, asserts today as a prerequisite of every endeavor in seeking out the bliss of conjugal life. In being the buildup to a phase of life that aspires to rest in that cliched but dear still dream of happily ever afters, wedding photography perhaps is one of the most precious of wedding gifts to gift yourself as something to be as cherished as your continuing journey in togetherness itself.
