Reportage Photography

You might see the word ‘reportage’ on lots of wedding photographer’s websites but what are they talking about? Well it’s basically a photo-journalistic approach whereby you tell the story through pictures; we’ve all heard the expression “a picture tells a thousand words” haven’t we! A true reportage photographer will capture the events as they happen in a candid and unobtrusive fashion. Traditional wedding photographers tend to control the pace and hold the day up by asking everyone to pose for photographs. For many this can become frustrating and the resulting photographs lack narrative and character.

However it’s not just a case of pointing the camera and taking the picture, reportage photographers will plan ahead, assess the lighting around them, plan their shots and then wait for that perfect moment to unfold, often undetected. It’s not a case of lurking in the shadows though with a long lens, to tell the story the photographer has to get in with the action and listen to what’s going on around them. This approach not only creates a sense of perspective, but artistic images which convey the atmosphere at those moments in time.

Here are some examples of reportage wedding photography from recent weddings I’ve had the pleasure of capturing: