T H E PE R FEC T imperfect
THE WEDDING PHOTOGR APHS
OF
JOH N DOL A N
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This is a good wedding, but people are so put together that even at a good wedding there’s a lot of confusion way down deep in people’s minds and we thought that that ought to be in our play, too. —Excerpt of Our Town by Thornton Wilder
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FOREWORD BY
MARTHA STEWART
It is clear to anyone in the wedding business—participants, caterers, clergy, event planners, musicians— that photography and photographers are two of the most important and essential “must haves” that comprise a wedding. Let’s think about the passages of life and those most worthy of remembering. Certainly the birth of a child, of course the sixteenth birthday party or the college graduation. But in reality, the joy and happiness, the euphoria of a large and friendly gathering, the gorgeous peals of the wedding marches, the fit and beautifully coiffed and made-up bride, and the handsome groom bedecked in an outfit he will never don again—(well, maybe)—all make one realize that the wedding, as an institution, is perhaps the most recorded day in a person’s life. Personally I cherish my parents’ wedding portrait, and each of the siblings has a copy. I look lovingly at my own daughter’s wedding album and remember clearly each and every moment of that happy day. (By way of disclosure, those photos were by none other than the author of this amazing book.) Study these photos and you will understand what I am talking about. Each image is provocative, detailed, important, relevant, and memorable. John Dolan encourages his subjects to be bold, to show their emotions, and to allow his lens to capture private as well as more open moments. Years ago no bride would allow a photographer in the dressing room or bedroom, but now some of the most coveted moments are captured in those rooms. John has shown us what is possible in the many ways he has made wedding photography a true art form, competing perfectly with painters of old, who barely had time to do one sketch of the betrothed couple to paint at a later date. We are lucky to have photographers of John’s talent and technological expertise to capture the events of a wedding day.
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