Picture Perfect

Ta-ta-ta-da. Here comes the bride, closely followed by her mother, the caterer, the florist and that most essential player, the photographer. From his studio in the center of Bernardsville, Stephen Taylor specializes in capturing life’s most meaningful moments.

I know you have a unique and personal approach to photographing weddings.
Tell us about it.
Years ago I saw a photograph of my grandparents, very formal and posed. I thought, this tells me nothing about these people. I wished I could know more about how they lived and how they related to one another.

So, in the ’80s I developed a style called “A Day in Your Life,” inspired by a feature in Life magazine and picture books about the Kennedys in daily activities. I loved that the Kennedy pictures were intimate and artistic, and although the family is not with us, we feel we know them through these images.

I believe photography is an art but it’s also communication. This is going to be your family history. These images will be more valuable as time goes on.

When I started out, a lot of wedding photography was quite traditional. I decided to treat a wedding like a documentary film and capture all the wonderful moments that were missing. The couple would have something real and true to life to show their grandkids. Back then we were the only studio in New Jersey with this approach.

We all love to tell stories, especially family stories. I think of a wedding as the beginning of a story about a couple. I let them tell their own story. That way the images are going to be very spontaneous but artistic. We’re after the perfect moment, not the perfect picture.

Are there trends in shooting weddings?
Some photographers think of a wedding as a glamour fashion shoot, with the bride as a model. They want to make people look like they’re in Harper's Bazaar. Everybody looks alike. Same lighting, same poses. I don’t believe in taking somebody who already looks wonderful and trying to enhance that. I’ve never seen an ugly bride. I just let the people be natural.

Except for the portrait session, I don’t pose them. They pose themselves and I capture it.
At one wedding people started jumping. We got the bride and groom in midair. That was their personality. Other people are more formal. We want them to be themselves.

Read the entire interview in the March/April issue of New Jersey Countryside Magazine. Click here to get one free bonus issue and save more than 80% on a subscription.