If I had to choose three photographers that have influenced me over the years I’d name Garry Winogrand, Henri Cartier Bresson and Joel Meyerowitz.

Joel Meyerowitz was part of a movement of street photographers who documented everyday life on the streets of New York City in what many call the golden age of street photography. Even today, Joel’s ‘field photographs’ influence me a great deal.

His images were such that your eye could come into the picture anywhere on the scene, meander through the photograph and pick out detail upon detail. His use of wide angle lenses to include and describe ‘more’ within the frame were put to spectacular effect on the streets of New York in the late 1960s and through the 1970s.

Later, he would pioneer the use of colour in modern art photography. He’s still alive and producing work to this day. You can see the power of his documentary photography in his post 9-11 book ‘Aftermath’ which documented the story behind the clear-up at Ground Zero.

Henri Cartier Bresson was the first photographer to show me and many others, just what was possible within the confines of a photograph. His images are dreamlike moments snapped and preserved forever on film. Cartier Bresson had the eye of a mathematician. He was a photographic genius and is perhaps the most famous photographer of all time. Sadly he died in 2004.

Cornell Capa wrote this about him in the late 1980s:

“Henri Cartier Bresson has long been considered to be among the world’s most important photojournalists. His aesthetic of the ‘decisive moment’ – the revelatory instant – and his aversion to arranged photographs and contrived settings have influenced photographers since the 1930s.”

Last year I travelled to Paris and visited the HCB Foundation in Montparnasse. It’s hard not to stand in admiration of Henri’s little Leica M3 camera sitting displayed in the glass cabinet up on the upper floor. To think of what he achieved with just his eye and that little manual camera is so inspiring. In this day and age of modern cameras that’s a revelation.

Garry Winogrand was another New York ‘street photographer’ known for his portrayal of American life in the early 1960s. He roamed the streets of New York with his 35mm Leica camera rapidly taking photographs using a prefocused wide angle lens. His pictures frequently appeared as if they were driven by the energy of the events he was witnessing. Winogrand once stated that “a photograph has the illusion of being a literal description of how the camera ‘saw’ a piece of time and space.” How about that?

Tod Papageorge said this about Garry’s pictures in 1974:

“If they appear casual it is because they were meant to. Their mastery resides in just such an appearance.”

Fine words.

Here are some wedding images of my own that I know have been directly inspired by these three great photographers.

Can you tell which?

To me, good reportage wedding photography means following the story and in a sense, retelling that story through pictures (certainly not in directing it).

Weddings hold a deep sense of mystery to me. When I turn up at a wedding I have no preconceived ideas about how things should look or what might happen. Out of respect for the wedding, I don’t believe the photographer should impose himself on things at all. I’d rather record the day in such a way as to create images that are authentic and that can be enjoyed for generations to come.

I find that photographs that come from real moments are inherently more powerful and authentic than anything that is stage-managed.

There should be nothing random about a so-called ‘candids’. Wedding photojournalism is about really poignant moments that can mean a lot to the people in those photographs. Nor is it defined by an absence of formal photos or portraits.

There are some real wedding photojournalism myths around.
At a wedding last week I was asked about the photograph I posted recently on my blog of the little girl cooling down her tea. The question was along the lines of ‘what was the relationship of that little girl to the bride and groom?’ and ‘was it just a lucky shot?’ Well, she was their flowergirl. So I obviously knew that she was pretty important to the bride and groom. If you keep a close eye on things, get in the right positions and are quick then the rest just falls into place. Part of the equation of a great photograph is anticipation.

One of my most treasured photographs is of my own Mum when she was about the same age at a wedding at the very same venue (Belfast Castle). The picture was probably considered to be somewhat of a throwaway print back in the 1960’s because it was shot on the fringes of a large group formal. My Mum’s not looking at the camera and it’s not a ‘formal’ portrait, but, to me, that little photograph means the world.

I’m quite perceptive as to what happens around me and I learn quickly on a day who the important characters are. At each wedding, I will focus on telling the story through the bridal party and the main characters.

I don’t take photos of absolutely everyone though – to do that is simply unrealistic and would involve lining absolutely everyone up for what would essentially be endless simple record shots. These days, guests with their digital cameras are more than capable of getting ‘record’ shots of people. I believe a photographers skills are worth much more than that.

Where the skill lies these days, is in anticipating and reacting to what’s happening around you. Your ability to relate to people and create images out of the life that’s around you. Also, a photographer is usally hired for their eye – their ability to see a picture, if you like.

Another myth is that somehow wedding photojournalists don’t ‘do’ group shots. That’s just not true.

Years ago, when wedding photographers shot with medium format film, consider that there were just ten shots on a roll of 120 film. Wedding photography was all about the photographer having control over people and how those people were presented to the camera. Mysteriously, with some wedding photographers, this obsession continues on to this day.

Of course, the other side is that there are also a lot of photographers who think that it’s ok simply to turn up with a digital camera and ‘machine-gun’ a wedding and then supply the client with a thousand ‘candid’ images that haven’t really got any coherent thinking behind them.

That, to me, isn’t story telling – that’s just random shooting and hoping for the best.

Good photography is carefully considered and it takes years of practice.

Making pictures is what I love doing. You put a camera in my hands and I’m happy to find great pictures everywhere.

After Caroline, I have two passions in life – photography and music.

If you’ve ever asked me about music, shared a car journey with me, or picked up my iPod by accident you’ll know that my absolute favourite band of all time is Pearl Jam. So far, it’s been sixteen years of albums, concerts and continued admiration and inspiration…

If you’ve spoken with me in recent days or follow me on Facebook you’ll be aware that last week I was lucky enough to meet the band through a series of chance encounters in a hotel in Rotterdam.

For me, it was the thrill of a lifetime.

I wondered why Pearl Jam made, and continue to make, such an impression.

Then I read Theo Epsteins fine words in Lance Mercers incredible photobook ‘Five Against One’…

“When you’re first off on your own and ready to take on the world, you need something to play loud, something reckless, something you can believe in and hold on to. You find it in a new band, one that knocks you on your ass. Energy, truth and anger. The more you listen, the more personal it gets. You carry the songs in your head, and you swear you start to feel a little bit freer. It’s just what you need, so you turn it all the way up, and you believe in your new favourite band.

Years later, when the working life has you slipping into the boredom of routine, you yearn to see the band play, hoping to feel firsthand the energy you’ve heard on their bootlegs. But nothing’s routine for them now, not even a show. Loyal only to their fans and their conscience, they take on the silent enemies of the day: institutions and corporations, ignorance and apathy. Republicans. Tension is everywhere – even in the music – but the connection with the band grows stronger. They finally get to play and you’re there: it’s loud, it’s right, and you smile because you know you’re wide awake again.

Later still, when you know its time to find your place in life but you don’t know where, you see that your favourite band has figured it out. They’ve been through a lot by now, more than enough to justify telling us all to fuck off. But they don’t, of course, and instead carve an identity as admirable as it is unique. No principles sacrificed. No one left behind. Just enough space for the music and the fans. Their place is big enough to make a real difference but small enough to hide. You admire it from afar, put on your headphones, and go off to find your own place just the same size.

And recently, after life has placed you up on a small stage of your own, you get to meet the band you’ve admired for so long. You expect it to be awkward, like when you struggle to make conversation with strangers at work. But the band is genuine, warm, fun, and disarming; somehow, they make you feel like you’ve been around the whole time. You should have known that’s the way these guys would be. The show is about to start, so you take a seat off to the side. As the lights go down and the first notes ring out, you shake your head and appreciate one more lesson from this amazing band: how to treat strangers like friends, whether onstage or off.”