Aesthetic Observations: Wedding photography

An acquaintance, Meghan, recently uploaded a new album of wedding photography — photos from her own very recent wedding — to her Facebook account. The album is a delight to the eyes and made me realize how average my own wedding pictures are (My wife and I chose the only professional photographer who shot weddings in the town where our ceremony took place. And he was very professional, and did a good job, but the result was less creative than I now wish it to be.). She and her husband Matt are photographers themselves who focus on weddings.

I recently posted the best of my first amateur attempt (with consumer-grade equipment) at any sort of wedding photography. I love weddings and very much appreciate good photography, but my first unofficial entry into the seemingly saturated world of wedding photography pales in comparison to the creativity and candor of Aus10′s work:

The light across the bride’s veil is wonderful in this recent Aus10 shot.

When I asked how Aus10 keeps it fresh, Meghan replied, “Our idea of ‘wedding portraiture’ is a lot more exciting than most photographers out there. We try not to take pics at the front of the church — in my opinion it just stifles creativity unless the church is just a gorgeous gothic cathedral or something.” I don’t take her saying “our idea is a lot more exciting” as a pompous attitude; their work speaks for itself in comparison to other wedding albums and photos I see. And for me, the connotative understanding of “portraiture” is a stiff one, often lacking any kind of creativity and resorting to formulaic ideals.

Another friend in town also does some nice things with weddings at Main Street Studios, certainly more creative, again, than the $2,000 album my wife and I keep under our couch. It’s a little weird knowing both sides of the competition in such a little town. Each studio is a stellar choice for couples who value the ability to clearly remember their important day, a day often recalled through a haze of haste and stress, detail-mongering, unexplored emotions and fatigue. Main Street Studio’s website is easier to navigate, I must say, than the most recent iteration of Aus10′s creative but cumbersome Flash product (which is also impossible for bloggers to link back to).

Despite my (and my wife’s) disappointment with our own wedding album — she became disappointed with it earlier than I — I’m very glad to have it. In the last year I’ve prayed constantly that I retain a clear and vivid memory to the end of my days, particularly of such important events. What did people do to remember these things 150 years ago, when photographic tools and methods were in their infancy, when developing pictures required mercury baths and silver? When wedding photos, let alone albums, were a luxury. I feel blessed to be in a family with photos even from the 1920s, a blessing which hinges upon the fact that more than one member of the family worked for the town photographer. We are extraordinarily blessed in our day to have photographs to aid our fallible memories.