“A photograph is usually looked at - seldom looked into.” - Ansel Adams
The history of wedding photography is a fascinating and intricate subject, with numerous innovators that developed photography into the art form that we know today. Nowadays, the wedding photography industry can be looked upon as lavish, with high end productions for modern weddings. However, this was not always the case. Looking through that history should make us appreciative of the advances these innovators have made and lessons we can glean from their successes and their failures.
The history of wedding photography actually dates back to the 19th Century, which makes sense as the first photograph was developed by Joseph Nicéphore Niépce in 1826 (Belden, 2024). Ever since Niépce developed the first heliograph, there were couples hoping to have their portrait captured for all of time. Utilizing the work of Niépce, his son, Isidore and scientist Louis Daguerre collaborated to create the Daguerreotype, which was utilized as the primary means of photography starting in 1839 until about 1856. The Daguerreotype was replaced eventually by the collodion process, which was created in 1850 or 1851 (NSM, 2023). By the 1860s, you had the development of the cabinet cards, which was another innovative invention (Stripling, 2024).
According to Susan Stripling (2024), the art of wedding photography was born around the 1840s. By 1854, the first wedding picture was ever captured of Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha and Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom (Sullivan, 2024). The strange fact is that their wedding was in 1840, which was 14 years prior (Bailey, 2019). However, being royalty, they had the finances to afford photography at the time, whereas the vast majority of people were unable. Because of the costs of the time period, most people were unable to afford the process, as the resources were so expensive and rare.
At the beginning of the 20th century, color photography was available as a feature, developed as a theory by Scottish physician James Clerk Maxwell in 1890. However, with World War I and World War II, the equipment was delayed in wider use. In the 1920s, the innovation of the first automatic photo developing machine was created, as well as the invention of societal weddings, which eventually led to celebrity culture (McGee, 2023). By the 1930s, we had the emergence of wedding photojournalism, as well as the first bridal magazine ever created (Stripling, 2024) (McGee, 2023). With the development of handheld cameras, photojournalism spawned from people documenting candid and spontaneous events that everyone experiences in life.
With the start of World War II in 1939, following the Great Depression, weddings spiked in popularity, with many of the grooms being deployed overseas following. Photojournalism was continuing to grow in popularity, especially with soldiers in their own theaters of war. An example being Robert Doisneu, who was a soldier and photographer in the French army, eventually returning home to continue his work as a photojournalist, which included capturing revolutionary images of weddings following the end of the war (Bell, 2007). Following World War II, color photography was implemented, however, primarily for those who could afford it. Additionally, the concept of wedding photography evolved, now capturing the entire day (Sullivan, 2024). By the 1970s, color photography became synonymous with modern photography (Stripling, 2024).
Potentially the most revolutionary change of wedding photography was the induction of digital photography. With the development of digital photography, film photography shifted into being a relic of a by-gone era, with all photography being uploaded to an easily accessible location (Stripling, 2024) (McGee, 2023). Finally, in the 2010s, the implementation of social media into popular culture led to wedding photos being shared regularly through the internet, as well as elevating celebrity culture to a new high (Stripling, 2024). Social media has become a key component of modern photography, as it has become a means of publicly sharing the privacy of the special day.
While we often think of history in broad strokes. This is likely because it is easier to comprehend those wide swathes of time. However, we often forget the intricacies and the development of things we recognize as a regular way of life in today’s day and age. We can pull out our phones and access a camera anytime we like. But the point of this was to highlight the toil and strive that many innovators have put in to get us to where we are today, so your wedding day can be captured. I hope that you have learned something and that you have an excellent week.
Warmest regards,
Logan Clark
Works Cited
Bailey, Lu. “History of Wedding Photography.” The Wedding Secret, 10 July 2019, https://www.theweddingsecret.co.uk/magazine/history-of-wedding-photography/. Accessed 22 July 2024.
Belden, Kris. “Joseph Nicéphore Niépce, View from the Window at Le Gras (article).” Khan Academy, https://www.khanacademy.org/humanities/becoming-modern/early-photo/early-photo-france/a/joseph-nicephore-niepce-view-from-the-window-at-le-gras. Accessed 22 July 2024.
Bell, Marcus. Master's Guide to Wedding Photography: Capturing Unforgettable Moments and Lasting Impressions. Amherst Media, 2007.
“Faster photographs: Electroplate and the daguerrotype.” National Science and Media Museum, 23 March 2023, https://www.scienceandmediamuseum.org.uk/objects-and-stories/faster-photographs-electroplate-daguerrotype. Accessed 22 July 2024.
McGee, Corrie. “100 Years of Weddings: How the Wedding Industry Has Evolved from 1920 to 2020.” Wed Society PRO, 9 October 2023, https://www.wedsocietypro.com/article/100-years-wedding-history/. Accessed 22 July 2024.
Stripling, Susan. “The History of Wedding Photography.” Susan Stripling Photography, 17 January 2024, https://susanstripling.com/blog/the-history-of-wedding-photography/. Accessed 22 July 2024.
Sullivan, Elena. “Capturing Love, the History of Wedding Photography.” Arsvie Photography, 14 February 2024, https://arsviephotostudio.com/the-history-of-wedding-photography/. Accessed 22 July 2024.