What is Documentary Wedding Photography?
When we search the internet for what documentary wedding photography is, we see plenty of definitions. However, when we examine them, we often come across content that is vague, often strays from the topic, and sometimes even misleading.
As a wedding photographer who takes documentary wedding photos , I wanted to explain what this concept means. Because this topic will shed light on what you can expect from the photography and video of your wedding day from beginning to end.
What is NOT Documentary Wedding Photography?
First of all, I would like to point out that “ documentary wedding photos ” and “ wedding story ” do not mean the same thing.
True, both try to tell the story of the wedding day from beginning to end with photographs. However, like many photographers, we sometimes prefer to use a fine-art approach instead of a documentary when telling the story of the wedding, or, like some, we prefer to create a fictional story. There is no right or wrong in this, it depends on the style we adopt and on the wishes of our couples.
However, when we look at it in general, documentary wedding photography stands out as the ideal approach to tell the story of the wedding in the most natural and realistic way. The concepts of Wedding Story and Wedding Documentary are neither separate nor alternatives to each other.
We record real emotions
Secondly, a wedding documentary does not mean taking photos of the bride smiling and waving at the camera while she is getting her makeup done. It is certainly not zooming in on the mascara being applied to the bride's eyes.
Because these photos don't tell you anything about the bride or the wedding. Can you find a distinguishing feature between two mascara photos taken at different weddings? Isn't it hard to tell which eyelash belongs to which bride?
And of course, documentary wedding photography doesn't just mean going to a location with the couple for the photoshoot and taking photos of the bride and groom there.
These types of photos are taken when the couple takes a break from other activities on the wedding day and deliberately poses for the photographer. It is not considered documentary when the couple and the photographer go to a place unrelated to the wedding just to have their photos taken and pose there. These types of shots are called Wedding Story or Outdoor Shots .
We take pictures that bring memories back to life again and again
So, what is this documentary wedding photography?
Documentary wedding photography is simply described as the photography of events that take place during the wedding day without the couple intervening. We all know this much, but when I look at some of the wedding photos that are published on the internet as documentaries, I find it useful to expand on this definition a little.
Wedding photographs that deserve the title of documentary do not only show a bride laughing. They also add meaning to the photograph by including what and to whom the laughter is in response. In this respect, documentary wedding photography also differs from wedding photographs taken without notice, known abroad as “candid.”
What is truly beautiful is your soul, and we are just documenting it.
For example, a photo taken by zooming in on the face of a bride who is emotional and shedding tears cannot be classified as a “documentary” just because she did not look at the camera. It would be more accurate to call this type of photo a “candid” or “unannounced photo.”
But if the photograph tells the bride's friends something during the wedding, and the bride's friends respond to that story with emotion, then the story is complete. Only when a photograph contains a similar story and meaning can it be described as a " documentary wedding story ."
A style that makes a difference
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We record true beauty