Picture This: Film photography provides a different wedding day perspective
Engaged couples have countless choices to make when it comes to planning their big days. But, undoubtably, one of the most important is how they choose to document it.
The photos of a wedding day determine how it is remembered for generations. And, increasingly, couples are looking to the methods of old to ensure that the most authentic and artful representation of their wedding lives on.
“Film is the closest thing there is to practical magic,” says photographer Camille Delaune. “It has a way of not only capturing a moment but adding to it, replicating a romance and establishing timelessness that’s honestly just so beautiful.”
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The magic is not in the film itself but in the deliberate precision, artful approach and curated perspective of the photographer behind the vintage camera. Delaune uses her keen eye, plenty of care, and a 1960s camera, to capture intimate moments that can often be overshadowed by the hustle and bustle of a wedding day. Such attention to detail creates the warmth and painterly richness that grabs the attention of viewers, with her photographs being featured in The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal.
“I want to equally portray the joy, tears and, at times, chaos,” she says. “My goal for every wedding album is to have a museum of the day that you can walk through.”
Shots of brides lacing up their shoes or putting on lipstick are just as moving as shots of the couple coming back down the aisle. In many cases, those quiet moments are the ones where true emotion shines through, and that’s why Delaune takes a photojournalistic approach, capturing every aspect of the day, no matter how small.
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As the medium of film photography has grown in popularity for weddings over the past few years, Delaune has found herself at ceremonies from New Orleans to Portland to Pisa, Italy. But while the style is what’s grabbing the attention of brides right now, Delaune doesn’t expect it to go anywhere, especially given the medium’s history.
“It’s so interesting that film is a trend—and I get it—but the reason I expect to shoot film for the extent of my career is that it never goes out of style,” she explains. “It’s what pulls us to our grandparents’ photos.”
It’s that nostalgia that is, perhaps, driving this resurgence. Couples getting married today have likely long poured over the film wedding photos of family members. Documenting their own wedding days in the same fashion not only pulls in one more layer of tradition and history, but it also ensures that their photos will be remembered and admired in a similar way.
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“It’s like Christmas morning every time I develop a roll of film, and I think that’s one of the many reasons I’m continually drawn to it,” Delaune says. “There’s a richness and depth to film photography. And once you’re controlling the technical aspects, it’s hard to make an ugly film photo. Beauty is an innate quality of film.
See more photos in the gallery below: