While we were finalising our wedding album, our photographer asked us what I thought was an insignificant question.
Having received the album, I now understand why, and I think it’s important.
The question soon, but first the back-story.
The first time my wife Kayla and I saw our photographs was as a slideshow. If you’ve ever seen one of Johannes‘ slideshows, you’ll know how beautiful they are. We were drawn in by the imagery, the music, the timing.
And having not seen our photos until that point, we instantly felt a strong connection to them.
Framing them in a slideshow format helped tell our story from start to finish, allowing us to easily (and quickly) experience again all the emotion of the day. We still do every time we watch it.
The prints arrived a few days later. They were cool, but they sit in a box. They’re kind of cumbersome to handle. We’ve flicked through them a couple of times. But we don’t get them out when people come around.
They’re a little empty on their own.
Fast forward and we’re working on our album with Johannes. We get the design sorted and he asks the question…
“Do you really want to see the art-worked images before the album goes into production?” I say yes.
Problem. To Kayla, the proofs of the newly art-worked layouts don’t look like her wedding images anymore. “They look different. I want them to look like they do in the slideshow.” She feels no connection to them.
But those hesitations disappear altogether when we see our album for the first time. She (again) is blown away. She feels connected to them in a second. As if they are really hers, and always have been.
Just like the slideshow, the album framed our images and drew out emotions, feelings, connections, the story in a way that that seeing the images in isolation, on a screen or a 6×4 print, can’t.
Now I understand why Johannes asked us that question. He knew part of the experience of seeing our album for the first time would be lost by seeing the images beforehand.
If he hadn’t shown us the artwork he wouldn’t have given us the chance to doubt what he’d done. He’s the artist, not us. I wish we’d trusted him.
Our album sits on our coffee table. It tells a story. And we show everyone.
Cheers, Nigel
People who like this post would also like:
Why so good in books?
One happy couple
No bragging rights
October 20th, 2010 in 
