Street storytellers turning into wedding photographers

Remember the time when your Instagram's fyp (for your page) was all covered with gritty black-and-white captures? But if you take a tour of their recent posts it's all colourful with wedding portraits. Not just them, it's like across the photography landscape street photographers are shifting to Qubool photographers. But what is the driving force behind this?

Jahurul Azaz Joy is a known face in photography from ChitroGolpo. In a recent chitchat with him, the writer was asked what drew him to switch from the streets to weddings. He reminisced his transition journey, saying, "Basically, the street genre is the ground where I found myself as a photographer," he shared, "exploring streets of Dhaka, pursuing photos with the sun over my head and sometimes drenched in the rain. This genre helps to get closer and explore different sides of people which helps me in real life to ice break in a short time."

But in his case, fate had other plans. He continued, "In early 2017, on a journey seeking photos, my camera suddenly stopped working. I got my first camera as a gift from my father as a token of appreciation to get into the University of Dhaka."

As a second-year student without funds for a new camera, this moment became his turning point when his passion for photography led him to earn professionally.

In response to what he misses most about street photography, Joy didn't hesitate, saying, "Wedding is a redundancy method; the flow is always the same. I know what will happen next, but in the street, we don't know that; we need to wait for the correct moment to capture a perfect photo. It is a test of your patience. In wedding chemistry, lighting and taking poses, making sure I'll get a perfect shot, but the streets, I don't know whether I'll get a good one or not, and this is what I miss about street photography."

Curious about how he balances client expectations with his street photography roots, he explained, "This is where I mix things up; weddings maintain a similar flow most the time, as a wedding photographer who is from the street genre is like capture the rawness of wedding apart from well-groomed posed photos. This satisfies my hunger for photos closer to the street genre and my client's wild, raw, at the same time polished and glamorized photos as well.

However, Zahran Alam Bondhon brings a different perspective to this transition. Bondhon is the Founder and CEO of Shutterbug ZAB. While many photographers make a complete switch, Bondhon sees it more as a natural bend in his journey rather than a definitive shift.

"I would not tell the shifting was from any inspiration," he shares. "Rather, as we are getting into a busy life day-by-day, turning my passion into a profession seemed more comfortable for me."

His journey began during his higher secondary school days with just a smartphone, capturing nature and people, gradually evolving into wedding photography while keeping his street photography roots alive.

The next question asked was what he misses most about street photography which he replied, "The thing I miss the most is the diversity of street life, which cannot be found in wedding photography," Bondhon shares.

"Every single person on the street has their own stories because their way of struggling is different." He notes that while conceptual wedding photography offers creative freedom, it can't match the ever-changing scenarios of street life and the philosophical depth a photographer can bring to everyday scenes.

Interestingly, when asked about the role of social media trends in glorifying wedding photography, Bondhon remarked that while acknowledging the growing luxury-oriented perspective of wedding photography in today's advanced society, he maintains that this glamorization didn't drive his partial shift. Instead, he takes pride in his street photography garnered appreciation from friends and family for its unique perspective- seeing what others might miss at first glance.

In a casual conversation about the evolving landscape of photography, Tanjila Munia, a Dhaka-based emerging female photographer who has keen eyes to capture beauty through her lens, shared her insights on balancing different photography genres.

When discussing the challenges between wedding and street photography, Munia focused on the power of the camera by saying, "The lens or camera is the most powerful weapon as it can focus on anyone, anytime to click photos or you can just frame those moments. If you do not know how to operate the weapon, you won't understand which moment is important and which is not."

On client expectations, she noted, "I believe the expectation of wedding clients is higher, and if you work according to both of your comfort zones, it's easier than the unpredictability of the streets. On the streets, we don't know who will allow us to click photos."

She believes client expectations are easier given that they can communicate what or how they want their moments.

Sharing her journey, Munia reflected, "I started photography back in 2018 with my smartphone and a motive that I will click the things I can't explain. Photography or the term female photographer ain't that common in Bangladesh perspective. My family didn't allow me to opt for a photography course. But I still went for a photography course to earn my own money."

Speaking nostalgically about street photography, she shared, "I used to wander the streets looking for stories around me, would search for stories that would have a storm on my Facebook with lots of wow reactions."

On bringing street photography skills to weddings, Munia explained, "I believe street photographers bring a unique perspective to wedding photography, as streets are unpredictable and they have very different visions, light, observation, framing, different perspectives, and they got to capture the moment more spontaneously rather than having a staged photoshoot. Even at weddings, sometimes there are some decisive moments that we've got to capture within a second. The skills of street photographers can aid in capturing candid moments at weddings."

She concluded by emphasizing the importance of storytelling, "There are different stories or narratives, context and the visuals, of course. Not only does a good shot suffice, rather it should omit some story behind it."

What do you think of the recent shift of photographers in these two genres? Share with the writer at [email protected]