ABSTRACT
Speaking with wedding photographers (see Mupotsa 2014), I noticed the recurrence of images that adopted a style they described as ‘vintage’. This repertoire appears to employ nostalgic notions to invoke tradition and romance. Later, in an interview with a bride, I was particularly struck by the image of Khanyi and Lawrence from their formal wedding album. The majority of their other pictures are in colour and DUHSRVHGWRUHÀHFWURPDQWLFORYHDVWKHFRXSOHJD]HDWHDFKRWKHUH[SUHVVLQJWKHLU conjugal connection. Yet their photographer included a set of images in black and ZKLWHPRGHVWO\SRVHGDQGUHÀHFWLQJOLWWOHHPRWLRQLQWKHIDFH7KHFRXSOHVWDQGV facing the camera and apart from one another. Aside from their attire, there are no other props. The image could then be viewed as documentary, devoid of the intricate curating and staging of the romantic wedding photograph. The black-and-white photograph follows the conventions of the documentary as it captures a moment that is suspended in time, ‘not staged’ and thus empirically true, it stands in stark contrast to the highly aestheticised images of romance that appear to possess a more ¿FWLYHTXDOLW\<HWWKLVLPDJHLVQRWHPSW\RILQWHQWLRQ:KHQ,DVNHG.KDQ\LZKDW VKH WKRXJKWRI WKH LPDJHVKHVDLG LW UHÀHFWHGDQRVWDOJLD IRU WKH µJRRGROGGD\V¶ reminiscent of the wedding photographs of previous generations. This nostalgia for a past was striking, calling on me to consider the workings of desire in the scene.
