Matt & Jemima
July 2021
It brings me so much joy to see friends married. To capture their wedding on camera is particularly special. Jemima and I became friends eight years ago while we were both studying languages at university. I helped her to crash the graduate parties, she brought me to church: it was a lovely friendship!
Nine years ago, I photographed Tani and Pete’s wedding in Oxford. Last week, I photographed their family again - this time on the occasion of their son’s first birthday.
It was my first lockdown photoshoot, and we stuck to their front doorstep and a park round the corner. I quite enjoyed the constraints - and I definitely enjoyed photographing such a lovely little face!
This lovely couple were married in beautiful autumnal setting of an inn-hotel in the Cotswolds.
I love going to weddings as a guest. Until recently, it wasn't often I was invited merely to look (rather than to stand behind the camera). It's even more special when the bride is a cousin you've grown up with, who wrote you letters in rainbow felt-tips and taught you English slang while racing up the hill to the ice cream van.
I spent most of the day taking pictures of my family - the bride and groom had their own very good photographer - but I couldn't resist the first dance.
This is Nicky. He used to be in the Forensic police, making tiny 3D models of crime scenes. He eventually left the city, the job, got married: followed God's calling a took a job first at Wickes, and now in the building industry. Forced to reconsider his identity being defined by his career, he's stepped up into the identity his faith provides.
He's been doing woodworking for two years.
His home is always open to others: him and his wife have taken in individuals who have been stuck for a place to live; frequently host a homegroup of a dozen (or more) of us, unfailingly feeding us all. They're part of my extended church family here, and are a huge part of why I felt welcomed when I came to a new place, a new church.
"This was the other half of that"
If you want to see/hear more - you can find Nicky's blog here and website here.
