At Christmas 2022 my brother & sister-in-law-to-be asked me to shoot their wedding on June 23 2023. A big deal, of course, that responsibility to deliver the goods and it would mean forgoing on being ‘a guest’. I thought about it and a few weeks later I accepted.
The location for both the ceremony and the party was their new home, the former City Hall (‘Stadhuys’) of Stavoren, a historical town on the west coast of the Province of Friesland, overlooking the IJsselmeer (interior lake), with the levee separating the house from the waterfront. As far as wedding photography goes, an ideal situation.
Both the ceremony and the party were unforgettable. They said their Oui! in the Stadhuys’ ceremonial hall (oozing history, draped with the original, centuries old wall paintings). The reunion of family and friends (from all over the world) and the sheer joy of recording all the good vibes and energy was incredibly inspiring to shoot.
I took 4500+ photos with 2 cameras (and a drone for some fly-over group photos and videos). One of them was my old X100S, just for all the intimate in-betweens and the simple in-camera flash shots of the epic party that followed. I played around with the double exposures to add flavour here and there, being up close up to the point of paparazzi-ness, but mostly inconspicuous. It often pays off and given the responses, it did again. I selected the best 600+ photos and the ones below are 3 dozens I picked as my favourite, black and white, grainy sample gallery of the before, during and after. Oh, and of course I put together their wedding album in print (with Blurb).
