Neil Palmer Wedding Photography - Profile
An insight into the style of Neil Palmer, one of the UK's leading documentary wedding photographers.
'It all started back in 1983 when my father, who had a flourishing wedding and photography business, moved from his present home and purchased a large property on the outskirts of Reading. This had a large coach house built to the side which was converted to a studio, workroom and reception area. And being located on a busy road with lots of passing traffic the business grew rapidly. In those early days we photographed around 15 portraits a week and up to 100 weddings a year. Compared to what we see today, the photography was pretty much lacking in terms of flair and imagination and was very much staged and overposed.
From the mid 90's I then decided to shoot in a more relaxed documentary style and moved from heavy medium format to much faster and versatile 35mm Nikons. And this gave me a completely new lease of life and I was finally able to express myself and shoot in a style that not only I enjoyed and believed in, but so did my clients.
So what is this style? Basically its documentary photography which means I do not pose, direct or interfere with the days events. There are probably thousands of photographers around the world who would describe themselves this way but I believe I am in a minority in that I am a pure documentary photographer/photojournalist. Which means I do this consistently week in week out and do not compromise whatsoever. If a client wants any posed photography or for me to replicate a popular trend then I will kindly recommend them to another photographer.
Looking at my style in more detail I would say my biggest influences come from non wedding photographers - Cartier Bresson for his narrative element and split second timing, Elliott Erwitt for his humour and whimsical approach and finally Arnold Newman for his juxtaposition of subject with environment. The biggest complement I get is when a complete stranger views my images and tell me that they felt they were there at the wedding and know the true personalities of the bride and groom and their close family. And this is my ultimate aim - to document the wedding as truthfully as possible.
Throughout my career I have photographed over 1000 weddings from all faiths and in venues all over the UK from small pubs to grand Scottish Castles from our Berkshire wedding photography studio. Some of my most memorable venues are Syon Park, Kelmarsh Hall, The Belvedere Restaurant In Holland Park, Highclere Castle in Berkshire, Tylney Hall in Hampshire and The Elvetham Hotel. However I am not just confined to the UK, I am also a destination wedding photographer and have photographed weddings in The Netherlands, Spain, France and Germany. And only at the end of 2010 I photographed one in Sydney Australia.
Its been a long and truly satisfying career so far, 27 years in total. But I am still keen to learn and improve all the time. No time to rest on my laurels!