Deprecated: join(): Passing glue string after array is deprecated. Swap the parameters in /home/u798073972/domains/portugalweddingphoto.com/public_html/wp-content/themes/prophoto6/vendor/downshiftorg/prophoto-classes/src/Middleware/FrontMiddleware/ImageLeftClickPreventionMiddleware.php on line 68
One thing about photojournalistic photography that I have always found intriguing is that we recognize and capture the moments we see without necessarily ever knowing the story behind them. We can see that a moment is significant by the emotion present, but may never know what it was that caused the emotion. Sure, sometimes it seems obvious and there are definitely situations that occur at every wedding that you can pretty much always count on to bring out emotion: A mother helping her daughter into her dress and adjusting the veil, Daddy seeing his daughter right before he walks her down the aisle, the bride’s nervous anticipation as she waits to make her entrance, the groom as he waits for that first glimpse of his bride. But beyond the obvious, there are interactions I capture for the beauty I see in the moment and I’ll probably never know anything more than what I see in that quick snapshot, just a glimpse into someone else’s life.
Recently I received an email that really brought home how important those moments are to the people involved. What to me is just a glimpse can be to others the culmination of a lifetime of love and collective memories. This was the email:
“You probably don’t remember me, but….I was in a friend’s wedding and you
did their pictures…David and Veronica
in December of 2007.
I’m writing because I am a graduate student at Virginia Tech, and the VT News is
doing a story featuring me. The story is on cancer and all that I have done for
cancer and policy change. I do all of this because I lost my father to
pancreatic cancer in just over 4 months.
Ironically, the last picture we have together is at the wedding and you took the
picture! They would like to include the picture of us in the story. In the
picture, it’s only days after his diagnosis, and they gave him only 0-3 months
to live. So while we were dancing, we knew it was our last dance and that he
would not be at my own wedding to walk me down the isle. An absolutely
beautiful and meaningful moment and the picture
really shows the depth of our love. So THANK YOU for capturing that moment!”
I found her email to be very touching and very humbling. It’s so easy to get caught up in the quest for those “portfolio” shots that will tell the world what a fantastic photographer you are and lose touch with the fact that the real importance of photography should be in it’s power to touch lives in a profound and significant way. Thank you, Kristin, for sharing your story with me.
