A Royal Touch

The first photograph was taken back in 1825 by French inventor, Joseph Nicéphore Niépce. The image – black and white – depicted the view from a window at Le Gras, taken with an exposure of eight hours. As a result, the sun shines on both the east and west of the photograph. Some twenty years later, Queen Victoria and Prince Albert became the first newlywed couple to have wedding portraits taken. The image – taken after the ceremony – depicts the twenty-year-old Queen of England adorned with opulent lace and delicate floral appliques looking adoringly at her prince. That simple yet romantic gesture of a woman in love, helped to shape the face of weddings forever.

Because photography was in its infancy back then, it was limited in its technology and a luxury only the rich could afford. It wasn’t until the 1900s when it became more accessible, that the general public joined in on the royal tradition and thus, wedding photography was born. While colour film was invented in late 1890s, it wasn’t reliable technology yet – the pigment faded and could be difficult to predict. Black and white film remained, steadfastly, the preferred wedding photography, used by even the most glamorous of bride and grooms from Jackie and John F. Kennedy in 1953, Elvis and Priscilla Presley in 1967, to the most famous wedding in modern memory – Prince Charles and Lady Diana in 1981.

As technology develops, so too does the artistry of black and white photography. With the invention of digital cameras, the very fundamentals of photography production have changed. For Greg Demaria, who grew up helping his award-winning wedding videographer father capture wedding celebrations, this shift is startling. “Photography was always important in my family,” Demaria tells us. “I remember back when I first started, I used to carry a few rolls of black and white film.” The photographer explains that back then, it was “vital to know when to use it during the course of the wedding”. Now, however, thanks to the beauty of digital technology, photographers can create the perfect black and white image in post-production.

The Magic Of Monochrome

“Black and white photography has come a long way,” Demaria reminisces, explaining that camera and software advancements have allowed for new frontiers of experimentation in black and white photography. Photographers are now “able to create various black and white looks depending on the subject matter or [their] own photographic style”. For Demaria, that means playing around with lighting – “the shadows, mid-tones and highlights can be manipulated to create a particular black and white ‘look’”. His approach to black and white photography processing is to “look for high contrast images as well as images that have a minimalist look to match the lack of colour”.

Demaria advocates that there are “no drawbacks” to black and white wedding photography in the digital age. Because most photographers shoot in colour, they have a lot of freedom choosing images to make black and white during the editing process. The photographer can capture your wedding’s magical moments in glorious colour, and carefully curate which images to showcase in black and white. The creative director also highlights the importance of looking not only at the subject but to “pay attention to the background – the less distraction the better”. The wonderful thing about black and white is that it eliminates distracting tones, colours and lighting that can appear in colour images.

Black and white photography has long been considered artistic and timeless because the images “tend to have a nostalgic feel about them”. If you’ve ever looked through your parents wedding album, you may have noticed that the colour images look dated with retro colour grading. By opting for some black and white wedding portraits, you avoid colour filters going out of style, and ensure your images are forever timeless. Among the endless benefits of choosing to capture your wedding in black and white, is perhaps the most imperative reason – emotion. Black and white allows the camera to focus on people’s expressions, revealing a couple’s intimate and romantic moments, without a single distraction.