It goes without saying that micro weddings, elopements, intimate weddings, or whatever you want to call them have been on the uptick in 2020 thanks to the pandemic. In an odd twist however, my journey as a wedding photographer seems to be hitting its biggest stride ever throughout this year and this has been one of my favourite years ever as a photographer and its thanks to brides and grooms like Emily and Cam.
About 2 weeks before their backyard wedding, Emily sent me a DM on Instagram, not unusual for many clients to find me on that platform but instead of reaching out to me on my 3B Photography account (@3bphotography) she found me through my editorial and commercial account (@brjann.bb / www.brjann.com) after noticing a portrait I took of a dear friend of mine that he shared on his stories. She mentioned that Cam and herself absolutely love the art of analog film photography and they want an anti-wedding photographer to capture their upcoming last minute change of plans wedding in Emily’s parents beautiful backyard just outside of London Ontario. They wanted their wedding capture exclusively 100% on analog film, music to my ears and an oddly common request I’ve been receiving from my couples of the past 2-3 years. Not many wedding photographers still shoot film and even fewer will shoot entire weddings solely on film, but my entire career has revolved around shooting film, from my editorial and commercial work, to my documentary work, analog film has played a central and key role in my life as a photographer so this was something both familiar and exciting for me.
Although the work on that page seems far removed from the work I create for weddings, I was excited that someone wanted me to 100% lean into those editorial and nostalgic influences that draw me to create that work and it was going to be a fun day for me to photograph a wedding in the most authentic way I could imagine. I packed a countless amount of film, loaded my trust Leica with some black and white Kodak Tri-X film, loaded my medium format cameras with a variety of film, like my favourites including Portra 800, Fuji 400H, slide film like Provia 100F and some expired Fuji Superia film and I set off to document their day with a hint of editorial and photojournalism flair, two avenues of photography that have shaped my career and in which I now attempt to blur the lines in between one another when creating images.
Originally slated to exchange theirs vows and host their shindig at the Darling Mansion in downtown Toronto, Cam & Emily opted to shift the party to 2021 and keep the intimate element of their wedding in a more private setting with their immediate families, hosting their lighthearted & emotional ceremony beneath stunning trees in the backyard surrounded by their family. The intimate setting of the wedding allowed for all the laughs and tears to be heard and felt, a day with uninterrupted laughter and reminiscing. The beautiful home had the perfect mid-century modern aesthetic that enhanced the atmosphere of the wedding / elopement to give it that timelessness element we often look back on with fondness. Watching the bride and groom get ready in different rooms of the house, being in such close proximity but yet distant, creates a unique energy that blends anxiety and excitement, the ultimate formula for me as a photographer to capture incredible unique and heartfelt moments like the ones of Emily seeing her mom and dad for the first time after putting her dress on and completing her anti-bride look, that she absolutely rocked.
Beyond the ceremony the micro wedding had some incredible food at everyone’s disposal, a heated pool that was taken advantage of by the kids and the perfect makeshift dance floor where the bride and groom shared a dance together before having everyone else join in on the fun. Of course, no at-home wedding is complete without the presence of a beloved pet, Tuna, Cam & Emily’s extremely cute dog that managed to sit still long enough for a photo or two before heading back into the wilderness to hunt squirrels. I’ve loved this current shift in hosting weddings at a family property, home is where we often create the most significant memories in our lives and marrying your partner is to embark on a new journey to create a new home together, whatever that may or may not mean to each person. I hope this trend continues into 2021, not because people have no alternative for their weddings, but because they want to create a genuine experience for themselves and their loved ones.
I won’t lie, getting to shoot with just film is basically all I ever want, it allows me to really tap into my creativity and challenge myself as a photographer, I couldn’t be more thankful and lucky that I get to work with such creatively inclined individuals who not only allow me to pursue these visions for their wedding photography, but actively encourage and demand it. Living in a digital age we’ve become dismissive of photography and art in general, the abundance of images has put a priority on quantity over quality and thoughtfulness, but this was an opportunity to create wedding photos that went beyond that and allowed me to create something legitimately tangible for the couple to walk away with. I hope they can look back at the negatives and slides from the roles of 35mm and 120 film that were used for their wedding day for many years to come. I’m obviously biased, but nothing beats the warmth of film, nothing can recreate the feeling of real grain on a photograph, all the little inconsistencies and flaws that make the images feel real, a feeling that can’t be recreated with digital, a sincere nostalgic feeling that is unique to analog film.
