How Worldwide Competition is Upping the Wedding Photography Game

Photographers from around the globe make their mark in WPPI’s Print Comp with signature looks both for pre-wedding and wedding day that often hint at the differences in their cultures.

For example, when it comes to photographing wedding looks for the Asian market—think places like China, Singapore, Malaysia, the Philippines (as well as a dominant Asian contingency living in Australia)—bigger is better and showy means show-stopping.

Photo © Raymond Phang

“Many Asian clients want film-set style productions with all the stops pulled out—the clothes, the styling, the makeup and the backgrounds,” says Ken Liu, owner of Renaissance Albums in Port Chester, New York. “The culture itself is very visual and based on outdoing your neighbor. Bigger is best and taking it one step further, many Asian wedding photographers shoot to win awards and their clients will often hire the photographer who has racked up more international awards. It’s a sign of prestige they can point to when they show off their albums to family and friends.”

FISH, CHIPS & TALKING GOATS
Take a quick glance at Singapore-based wedding photographer Raymond Phang’s portfolio and what instantly stands out are his larger-than-life productions and humorous images of couples that are a little bit wacky, a little bit over the top and 100 percent a reflection of the personality of the local clientele who hire him.

“What we offer is geared toward outrageously fun people who would love to have something creative and unique for their pre-wedding,” explains Phang, who has entered and won awards several times at WPPI, “and it’s definitely not for the fainthearted. Rather, it’s for outrageously wacky, wild, crazy, creative, special groups of insane people who dream of flying on a giant octopus to a land where cows with golden spots feed on fish and chips while playing a game of Sudoku with a talking goat.” Lucky for Phang, there’s a market for that.

Photo © Raymond Phang

And while he says his studio also does traditional bridal shoots for those who want that kind of coverage, his foothold is in the conceptual shoot often based on each individual couple’s story—of how they met, how they got together, their pet peeves, things they like or dislike about each other, even their childhood dreams or secret fantasies.

It’s so niche, in fact, that Phang and his team never repeat the same concepts twice and limit the style to “ten exclusive couples a year,” he says. “It’s pretty taxing on our brain cells to come up with even ten creative, epic and unique ideas, so we’d like to give our brains a little break when possible.”

THE DRAMATIC EFFECT
Johnson Wee, another WPPI award-winner, is based in Johor Bahru, Malaysia, and specializes in pre-wedding and engagement shoots. He is well-known for his dramatic shots oozing with traditional Chinese dress, elaborate styling and high definition post processing.

A look at his photographs show the elements from fashion and the red carpet, naming designers Oscar de la Renta and Zac Posen as inspirations. “Gowns and props are an essential part of my work, and I also help my brides pick the right gowns for the right locations,” Wee says. He pulls in lighting elements from big Hollywood productions like movies by Baz Luhrmann and Martin Scorsese: “While watching them, I visualize how my bride [would] be if [she] were in the movie.”

Photo © Johnson Wee

Wee continues, “I love my brides in amazing light and beautiful poses, and I transform these moments into art pieces and heirlooms that they can show off in their homes…something that is very important to the Asian bride.”

THE COMPETITION MARKET
Adds WPPI director Jason Groupp, who oversees the annual 16×20 Print Competition: “The amount of money brides and grooms in Asian markets are willing to spend on an individual photographer has increased as they seek out a ‘full service’ experience of hair and makeup, outfit changes and different sets…which means the creativity of the photographer they are hiring has increased as well. Full-blown shoots with not just the bride and groom, but with the bridal party and family members can go on for several days prior to the wedding.” Groupp says pre-wedding shoots are huge in this market, and “with the pressure off from not having a wedding day timeline to worry about, lavish concepts abound.”

As entries pour into the office for Print Comp each year, Groupp says it’s interesting to see different cultural cues that prevail from one region versus another. For example, many more traditional images of brides and grooms come out of China and Japan, where showing less physical contact between the couple is a cultural norm. “And you hardly ever see the groom smiling or looking uncontrollably happy,” Groupp says.

INTERNATIONAL FLAVORS
On the other hand, says Groupp, photographers covering the Latino market—for example Fer Juaristi, Enrique Oliver (who sets gorgeous brides against sweeping landscapes) and Hiram Trillo—the images of couples become a little warmer and more intimate. “There’s a lot more touching, more kissing, more hugging and generally a lot less clothing,” says Groupp with a chuckle.

Photo © Fer Juaristi

Move over to the UK, he adds, and portraits that emerge are quirkier, humorous and offbeat—which reflects well on the culture. “And let’s not forget the Canadians,” Groupp adds, “with their environmental portraits and images that seem to have a hint of that ‘great outdoors’ feel that comes to mind when you think of Canada.”

Blair deLaubenfels, former owner of Junebug Weddings and current market consultant to wedding photographers, helps take many a photo career to the next level.

“It’s exciting to see how a couple of outstanding photographers will gain name recognition from a particular region and then the whole region will blow up,” she says. “I am thinking of what’s happened in Mexico, Spain, the UK and China over the last few years. Five years ago, it was hard to name ten great photographers in each country, now it’s hard to narrow it down.”

Related Links

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How To Win WPPI’s Print Comp

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