When I called on Tina & Dag’s door in their Stockholm apartment months before their wedding, I had no idea who I was going to meet. Communicating via e-mail is never the same thing as sitting down together in a room, drinking tea and chatting about their wedding and this and that. After that meeting, I had a tiny idea who these two are.
On the 28th of May, I arrived at Bergendal in Sollentuna just north of Stockholm where they were getting married. During this day, I got to see more of who they are, through their interactions with each other, the warmth they show each other, but also through their friends and families who joined the wedding as guests. The ceremony was beautiful, located on top of the hill behind the hotel, overlooking Edsviken. They had a Barbershop-choir singing and after that, dinner and party followed, with both Swedish and Persian traditions woven in together, just like the mix of people at the wedding.

As a photographer, I’m always on the outside looking in. Observing what goes on as a stranger. As a Wedding Photographer however, I have to really listen and read between the lines. Picking up on those small nuances in what goes on and get a feel for it all. Rarely do I know much about the relationships between the bride and groom and their guests when I start out, but throughout the day, if you are observant, you can learn a lot. I know many photographers who find the dinner and the speeches to be the most boring part of the day, but to me, this is where it all becomes clear. Through the speeches and the fun events, I get to see who the couple is through the stories their guests tell, things I would never be able to pick up otherwise.

My mission as a photographer is to find the essence of all those stories and re-tell the same feeling with images. It is not always easy, but it is always something I approach with the utmost care and responsibility.

As I was sitting in my car on my way home from Bergendal, I felt that I had been part of something I would never forget. That feeling is why I never get tired of photographing weddings.

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