Wedding documentary photography still has little expression in the national wedding photography scene. By comparing a list of the number of wedding photographers in Portugal ¹ with another listing with the number of documentary photographers in Portugal ², we arrive at the conclusion that less than 2% of photographers consider themselves to be mostly/purely documentary.
However, documentary photography has so much potential to tell the story of a marriage. A perfect example is that of Cláudia and Fabio!
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First of all, why hire a photographer?
Nowadays we don’t hire a photographer simply to take pictures. Because for that we have our cellphones with increasingly better cameras. We hire a photographer because we want quality photographs. For me, a quality photographic report is one that has beautiful and creative photographs at the service of telling the story of the day in a coherent way. But not all photographic styles have as their main purpose to tell the story, some focus above all on taking beautiful photographs.
I often say that above than taking beautiful photographs, I want to take important and meaningful photographs. This applies to all kinds of social photography, not just weddings.
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The wedding of Cláudia and Fabio
I met Cláudia and Fabio in September 2020 when they hired me to photograph their wedding.
For me it is important to know the couple before the wedding, to know how to tell their story on the wedding day. I learned that they started dating in high school and that after 9 years Fabio asked Cláudia to marry him. They went through a lot of adversity together which made their love stronger.
But first of all here is a short summary of the wedding.
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But what is documentary photography of weddings anyway?
It is a photograph without poses or stagings, which wants to convey the story of the day in a beautiful and original way. It is necessary to have continuous attention to the tiny little moments that pass by flying throughout the day to capture them with genuineness. I want Cláudia, Fabio, her family and guests to look at these pictures and remember the day as it happened. If I were to ask for poses, the memory of that moment wouldn’t be the best.
This is not to say that the formal photographs of the guests and the bride and groom’s session at sunset are not important – the former (though traditional) are relevant and timeless photographs; the second (although posed) are beautiful photographs of only the couple.
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The preparation of the wedding
Planning a wedding is never easy, but doing so during a pandemic is much more difficult. Cláudia and Fabio did not have an easy task, because it was a year of chaos and anxiety, especially in Cláudia’s head. She had, however, the precious help of her sister and cousin!
It was difficult to choose the venue, but in the end they opted for Quinta da Serralheira in Palmela. Already after the wedding, I was entrusted that the initial choice of the photographer was also difficult, but when they discovered me and got to know my work there were no more doubts.
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They also confided afterwards that the big day went perfectly. They went on their honeymoon to the Maldives from where they brought many beautiful memories. The one I liked the most was when they were in the hot sea water while it rained cats and dogs. I wanted to do the same!
The wedding of Cláudia and Fabio was beautiful, they were always well-disposed and smiling. The human frame could also not have been better with super fun guests.
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If you’re interested in learning more about my photos, I suggest you read this little post that contains a short introduction: https://lourenco-photography.com/fotografo-casamento-lisboa/
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Suppliers
Videographer: Makes Movies
Space: Quinta da Serralheira, Palmela
Dress on bride, groom’s suit, shoes of both: Amour Glamour
Makeup: Cláudia Araújo
DJ: Paiva Sound
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Notes
¹ Number of registered wedding photographers in Portugal according to the listing on the Casamentos.pt for January 2022, equal to 1893 photographers – https://www.casamentos.pt/fotografo-casamento
² Number of documentary photographers registered in Portugal according to the listing on the site This is Reportagem for January 2022, equal to 27 photographers – https://thisisreportage.com/search/?search=&country=Portugal®ion=all&page=1
