When you decide to have a wedding photo shoot done, the implicit condition is: agree to let yourself be looked at! Not simply being seen, but observed. Scrutinized, studied, analyzed. But it is not easy. There is always a great little barrier of shyness, modesty, fear. The photographer behind the lens of his camera examines, scrutinizes, investigates, looking for something: a detail, a small detail. Explore.
The entire photographic session thus translates into a desire to contact the subject, waiting for the exact moment when the barriers fall. This is the moment when the photographer, if equipped with the right attention and sensitivity and if he does not want to limit himself to any shot, knows he can see beyond appearances and photograph the very essence of the person in front of him. Those who are photographed should accept to let themselves be looked at, forget to be in front of the lens, be spontaneous, relax and not think about the result, but enjoy the moment and have fun. But this is not an easy step. Moreover, entrusting one’s image to the hands of a stranger is no small feat.
How do you overcome shyness in front of the camera?
Trust is a central point of the relationship that is established with the photographer: it is not based only on his portfolio and his technical skills, but on that alchemy necessary to make him feel free to be able to rely on him without reservations.
That magic, is called empathy, from the Greek “εμπαθεία”: en- “inside” and -pátheia “suffering or feeling”. It is the ability to establish deep contact with the subject, which allows one to tune in to him, “putting himself in his shoes”, seeing with his eyes, listening with his ears, feeling with his heart.
A bond mind with mind, soul with soul, which allows the photographer to know how to read emotions and immediately understand the mood of those who have in front of their lens, making them feel at ease. The interaction between photographer and subject, during a wedding, is not only a reciprocal exchange in which the photographer gives his time and the subject his image: their two lives cross, enrich each other and find a sort of harmony by which gave rise to the photographic story. The wedding reportage is a collaborative work in which there is understanding and understanding, participation and sharing, complicity and collaboration. A path, at the end of which there will be the story of that beautiful day and all the emotions that accompanied it. It is this delicate balance that makes the difference between a well-made, but sterile and aseptic photograph, and an engaging story, which, thanks to the emotions lived together and the reading that the photographer has given it, gives new light and is able to reveal the the truest soul of the subject who let himself be looked at and photographed.
