Wedding at La Casa del Gelso
JESSICA E MATTIA
WEDDING AT LA CASA DEL GELSO
It was October and for Jessica and Mattia’s wedding at Casa del Gelso I had prepared all my equipment. I was leaving the house when, next to the study desk, I noticed the small leather suitcase containing an old Super8 film camera. As I looked at it, I remembered that I still had two black and white magazines left over from a personal project. So it was that, without thinking, I added that camera to my usual equipment.
I have always been fascinated by the magic of film. On the other hand, it couldn’t be otherwise, having started right there. I still remember the nights in the bathroom developing my negatives. I was forced to do it at night, because it was the only time of the day when the chances of someone coming to disturb me, as there was only one bathroom for six people, were reduced to a minimum. They were wonderful years, those in which I learned something new every time I developed a roll of film. I still have my indecipherable notebook, in which I wrote down everything and which I treasure like a true sacred text. But they were wonderful years above all for one reason: it was then that I understood what my destiny was.
PHOTOGRAPHY AS A STORY
Wedding photography is very often governed by stereotypes. It is easy to come across photographic stories about weddings and notice that, scrolling through the various photographs, they all appear the same, sometimes disconnected from each other, without any substance to support them. It’s a mistake I too made, that of pre-packaging a story, bringing home the “dutiful” shots, that is, the essential ones, without worrying, however, about giving meaning to this otherwise indecipherable “corpus”. Indecipherable because it is soulless, without any substantial support to what should be a harmonious and linear story. This is above all because wedding photography itself is considered a stereotype: if on the one hand it is true that every wedding is different but that, in the end, all weddings are similar, it is also true that what makes one wedding different from the other it is precisely the choice of suppliers. At this point, “style” comes into play, a word that is too often abused but which, in essence, constitutes the actual signature of a work. Your wedding could be told by ten photographers, whose style is recognisable, and you would get ten completely different stories. This is because other components intervene to help us “write” your story: our personal experiences, our passions, our personal culture, the images that have accompanied us throughout our lives. Style is the sum of all these things, but also much more. It has nothing to do with technique, nor with a more or less assiduous presence on social networks.
YOUR CHOICE
So, how do you choose your supplier? Who is the right photographer for you? I can’t give you an answer. There are many assessments to be made and they are all based on different factors. It is neither empathy, nor the price, nor feeling obliged to hire one rather than another, what should lead you to choose who will “support” your wedding day. The question to ask yourself is: are we sure it will be the right choice? Are we sure that, instead of helping us, it won’t instead be a “problem” for us?
Would you ever choose for yourself a Wedding Planner who, on the same day and without telling you, has another wedding on the other side of the city? Or a photographer who, for the same reason, sends his assistant to cover yours? Or a florist who forgets to prepare the bouquet and improvises one with the flowers she has in the garden? I do not think so. Or rather, in your place, I wouldn’t do it. But how do you find out if you have made the right choice? As I said, I can’t answer you. But if you’ve made it this far, you’re already well on your way.
What follows is the story of Jessica and Mattia’s wedding at Casa del Gelso.
