Matt Kay (The Woods Photography)

It’s hard for Matt Kay to blend in with the crowd on a wedding day. A self-described “big guy” with a “big beard” who likes to shoot alone, he considers himself fortunate that clients who hire him tend to be the creative types who appreciate a photographer with a distinctive style. His images, photographed on digital and film with Canon and Rolleiflex cameras, have a feeling “of strangeness and mystery,” edited in post to reflect what Kay felt when he captured them. “Just like choosing a color film for its tones,” he explains, “I create a set of colors for my work that adds an X factor without losing or overpowering the moment and composition.”

Before photographing weddings, he worked as a journalist covering “intense situations” and as an assistant in the fashion industry. He also pursued long-term personal projects. At weddings, it’s important to him that he not “dictate the day.” Kay is more interested in the “small magic of the forgotten moments,” he says, and he doesn’t like to venture far from the venue for portraits. After all, he notes, “my most successful images are almost always authentic moments where the location is not important.”

Check out the official announcement of this year’s 30 Rising Stars of Wedding Photography, along with the editors’ observations on the list of 2020.