Over this next week or so I'm going to be writing a three-part article on the blog. This series of ramblings will not only be aimed at customers looking for an explanation into why I believe so strongly in my particular style of wedding photography but should also be helpful to aspiring, narrative-based wedding photographers who subscribe to my blog.

As you can guess from the title, I hope to explain, with a level of clarity that I personally feel is necessary within the wedding industry, the term 'reportage'. In the following posts I hope to show you, with the aid of a sample commission, exactly why at present it is a very misleading, misunderstood and ultimately misused term when used to describe a particular style wedding photography.

'Reportage is a technique of documentary or photojournalism that tells a story entirely through pictures'

Successful reportage wedding photography requires a 'hands off' approach and so, understandably, gives many people the impression that it's incredibly easy to achieve. Therefore much of the reportage wedding photography out there is not reportage at all but merely misinformed snapshots, almost amateur in delivery and predominantly consisting of isolated head-shots of smiley faces. It's often devoid of information and narrative - and rarely in context.

The photographic industry has evolved almost beyond recognition in the last ten years and with the advent of small, affordable, high megapixel SLR cameras there has been, and continues to be, a proliferation of 'reportage' style wedding photographers (actually, if truth be known, 'pseudo wedding photojournalists') having a go and not doing a very good job. This type of work is almost certainly shot on a telephoto lens by a photographer that, because of the distance between them and the subject, is detached from the moment and consequently produces a collection of images with little or no understanding of the day and its guests.

The term 'reportage' has been highjacked by these sub-standard photographers hoping to lure customers in with this sexy, well known phrase. In fact, many of these opportunists are the industry's rubbish traditional wedding photographers looking to fill in the gaps on the wedding day. Struggling to appeal to enough customers because of their weak and out of date product, they offer several styles and have a jack of all trades, master of none approach. This technique, the very reason I've been meaning to write this series of articles, is nothing less than a marketing ploy. This is not me criticising the more posed styles of wedding photography either, in fact there are many incredibly talented, highly relevant photographers with a more 'staged' or 'traditional' style and approach, and their work is truly stunning. However, the 'jack of all trades' I am talking of are not skilled photographers, they are not good 'traditional' photographers and they certainly aren't good 'reportage' photographers. The result? You get the worst of both worlds.

Unfortunately, those who operate on a blanket coverage basis produce images which are mind numbingly devoid of any foresight and empathy with their subjects. It epitomises 'reportage wedding photography' today and is a weak and one dimensional version of documentary wedding photography and wedding photojournalism. This is not reportage wedding photography - it is not telling a story through pictures. These are snapshots and should be marketed as 'snapshot wedding photography'. I urge you to delve a little deeper when doing your research; ask yourself if the images you're seeing even tell a story, let alone tell it well?

I am a reportage wedding photographer; documentary and photojournalistic in style - I 'tell a story through pictures'. It is high time that true 'reportage' photographers reclaimed the term and elevate it back to it's rightful status as a highly skilled and relevant form of wedding photojournalism or documentary wedding photography. It is only through doing this and through educating our clients as to the marketing tricks used to cover poor photography that we will be able turn back the tide of incompetence swamping the industry and stop the value of our photography being dragged down.

In this post I certainly have talked the talk. In part two, I will present a series of reportage wedding photographs from a recent commission where I will walk the walk, showing you why I believe there is such an important difference between true 'reportage' photography and the tat that the 'jack of all trades' are producing.