Whilst photographing a wedding i was interviewed about how i work … here is the story to be published.
Ian Johnson is one of Europe’s leading Photographers of Real Life Weddings. But how does he find real life in a supposedly dying institution?
He talks to Kenneth Coey ….
A gust of mistral wind rips across Nice’s Promenade Anglais and Ian Johnson dives into attack with his camera snapping wildly. Moments later, he selects an image from his digital viewer and with a broad smile announces, ‘Now that’s a real life shot.’
And he is right. The bent back palm tree is partially obscuring the sign on the hotel roof, while at the front door the colourfully dressed doorman is grappling with his top hat and the shopping bags of a guest. In just a few seconds the famous Negresco Hotel has become the backdrop to explain that Ian is here in the Cote D´Azur to shoot a wedding. ‘A real life wedding,’ he adds.
‘All weddings are real, course they are’ he adds in an Essex accent that belies the fact that he has lived the last 15 years in Los Angeles and Stockholm. ‘Difference is if the photos show that. Do they jump out at you and capture that feeling, those emotions and special moments? Weddings are a living event not just a ceremony and I record that.’
The move from traditional group photos on Registery Office steps to a two day shooting trip for a ‘typical’ Swedish wedding at a vineyard in the south of France is as immense as Ian’s journey from Royal Navy submariner to celebrity photographer in Los Angeles. ‘You learn patience when you are under water for 30 days and to go for what you want in the fresh air,’ he says.
And he did just that on one of his first assignments which was some roof top shots of Bob Hoskins to publicise the Peter Pan film getting its US release. ‘Getting to see the real person can be a problem in these shoots. But when I eventually pulled out a £2 ‘throw-away’ camera my mum had bought me in Clacton Market, Bob just fell about laughing and that got me my first magazine cover’ he says with a glint in his eyes.
A wedding a few years later to Swedish designer Lena and life took a new turn with a move to Stockholm where he pioneered the concept locally of ‘Real Life Weddings’. While Stockholm remains his base, he also maintains extensive contacts in the US and UK dealing with private and magazine assignment weddings.
‘Yeah, spend a lot of time travelling to exotic places’ he says with a wide grin, ‘Been to Carlisle, Aberdeen, Barbados, and of course Stockholm in the last few weeks. Location doesn’t really matter to me just so long as I get the best out of it. It’s the people after all, how they relate to each other and the environment that makes the difference.’
I get the story of the weather disaster at a recent shoot in Tuscany, where they were engulfed by an ‘end of the world is nigh’ storm making all outdoor shots impossible: except, that is, for the moment the groom saw his wedding car filling up speedily with hailstones through an open window. ‘Priceless that one, he thought the window was smashed and would have to walk’ Ian adds ‘but that’s why I always like to play safe with an extra day for background shots.’
Other stories from around the globe flow, but a ‘jet set life comment’ brings a scornful reply. ‘You wanna try travelling with this mate,’ and brandishing his large and expensive looking camera in his equally large hands he continues, ‘and I got two of them. No way I’m letting these into the baggage hold.’
His wide shoulders and smile sag under the weight of the multitude of check in and baggage restrictions he encounters weekly as he jet-hops around. ‘Every week it changes and no two carriers or staff are the same so you just need to go with the flow and stay one step ahead. I even got a trench coat made with deep pockets so I could carry them on.’
But even before his laugh ends Ian is back snapping away at street signs and cafés for some background but adds as a finale to our meeting, ‘Yeah, travelling is just like real life photography, be aware of your surroundings and adapt to the best possible advantage.’
A few days later, an email from Ian Johnson arrives to let me know that the ‘typical’ Swedish wedding in the Provencal vineyard had gone well, except that the chauffeur hadn’t checked out the route to the church and the bride was late. ‘Lots of photos of a nervous looking groom … but that’s real life mate!’