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Portrait of a Photographer - featuring Andrew Choi Photography
There was a time when wedding photography consisted of a staid portrait in a dusty studio, with poses stiff as rigamortis and smiles that look waxed on. The lovingly preserved matrimonial album of your parents, grand parents and great grand parents will attest to that. The world has since then woken up to wedding photography that's more natural than posed – spontaneity is, after all, the essence of a celebration. This genre of photography – photo-journalism, as it is commonly referred to by insiders – takes its inspiration from photo-journalists from hard news publications. You know, the ones who risk life and limb for a juicy story, be it a nest of ants in Ang Mo Kio or a celebrity-filled awards show at the Esplanade. The photographer captures the mise-en-scene with as it is laid out in front of him, never interfering with what nature intended, a style that's popular with couples these days. To that effect, photo-journalistic wedding photographers have come to be a dime a dozen.
That's precisely where Andrew Choi, a wedding photographer, stands out from the crowd. "Most other wedding photographers refer to their style as photo-journalistic. I describe mine as portrait-journalism. While my style is natural, I do give some artistic direction and practical instruction to the wedding couple. When you talk about photo-journalism, it's about letting things happen on their own accord," he explains. "You can't do that with bridal photography because the bride and bridegroom must still come off looking good in the pictures. "Portrait-journalistic photography comes into play when I guide the subjects, when necessary into showing their better side to the camera." The photography maven has been capturing the matrimonial moments of couples for the last 14 years. "It's in the blood. I've been in love with photography since I was a kid. I started playing around with Kodak Brownie cameras from as far back as primary school. In fact, I read up on photography so voraciously, I knew all about how to work one even before I owned one myself. By the time I could afford to buy my first camera – when I was in the army – I knew all about photography," he recalls with a smile. "Ever since I went professional with photography, I've been focussed on weddings – I witnessed the evolving trends from stiff portrait photography to casual to fun to photo-journalistic."
Like a reflection of Andrew's unpretentious style, his studio is a chic, but uncluttered space. A huge, framed black-and-white shot of a couple cavorting in their wedding finery, with Prague's ancient skyline as the backdrop, stood unassumingly on the floor. Andrew – as it turned out – has his fair share of overseas assignments, which he laps up with relish. "Overseas shoots are interesting – the results are almost always amazing. But thing is… sometimes we encounter problems like the weather," he says. "For example, we had expected fair weather in Prague when we went, but the temperature fell to 4 degrees and was freezing."
Hard to imagine the poor bride shivering in her strapless white dress when she looked so at ease and elated in the said picture.
But that's the thing about Andrew. He makes even the most uncomfortable situation look like a blast, and makes the most out of every weather condition. "Some of my best pictures are taken on rainy days – not heavy storms, of course…just a light drizzle," he says. The secret of why the brides in his pictures always seem glowingly beautiful? He replies: "I try to wrap up the shoot within a couple of hours. The most important thing is that the subjects are still enjoying themselves and not being forced to smile." Andrew Choi Photography, 63 Spottiswoode Park Road, Singapore 088651, tel: 6223 9552, www.andrewchoi.com |
