We love nothing more than a Belfast wedding. These are just a few snaps from Karen and Jeff's November wedding at the Merchant Hotel. All portraits - which is unusual for our documentary selves. But we were looking through their gallery this week and they just jumped out at us. Sometimes you want clifftops for a portrait. But sometimes a carpark can be even better...
Genuinely appreciating the love, kindness and sense of community that weddings bring into people's lives. The buzzy sense of anticipation around each day. Families and friends moving heaven and earth to be in the same place, at the same time, to celebrate the people they love. It's good for the soul. And we still never take these invitations for granted.
Creatively it's been a great year. I (Tim) joined a busy collective of artists in Belfast - Vault Studios - and have been painting away in the spaces between weddings. This always ends up feeding into the photography somehow. It stops my brain from falling into visual habits, keeps me trying to see images in a different way. I've also loved being part of This is Reportage, a documentary photographers’ collective, whose genius members keep me on my toes, always striving to be better.
Often in these end of year reviews, we've talked about the roller-coaster - tiny kids, building a house, constant travelling. But you know what we also did this year? We slowed down. Planted a garden and some apple trees. Whiled days away in the park. Attempted to sew (ok, glue) Halloween costumes. We've been breathing again
Couples of 2018, you've brought a lot of joy into the world this year. You've been the best craic, beyond kind, and have introduced us to gold boots, which are officially the way forward. Thank you one and all.
T&C
Our kinda humans, we thought :) This is gonna work.
And of course we, and the camera, loved Laila and Mark. Because they are awesome people. And their wedding was ridiculously good fun. And because none of this is about posing for perfect fairytale pictures. Even if the wedding is in a French chateau...
