There’s something quietly radical about choosing to skate after you’ve just been married. That’s a good way to describe Olivia & Zach: “quietly radical”.
After the ceremony, instead of heading indoors, they stepped out onto the frozen canal in their wedding attire. A year ago, when we first talked about their wedding plans in my home here in Kanata, the idea of skating the canal in wedding finery felt like a gamble. The previous winter had been so mild that the ice barely held. This time, however, the season obliged. There is a certain kind of magic in a -8°C wedding day when the conditions finally match the vision.
“In the depth of winter, I finally learned that within me there lay an invincible summer.”
“Au milieu de l’hiver, j’apprenais enfin qu’il y avait en moi un été invincible.”
― Albert Camus
Second Photographer (Elijah Atteby) Photo Credits: The above black and white image of Olivia & Zach walking (dancing) down the aisle after the ceremony. As well as all getting ready photos of Zach and his family.
As I reflect on my experience of these moments through the viewfinder, I think about the fact that I’m not just documenting a composition of people on an outdoor ice rink (an act I wouldn’t have dreamed of as a kid growing up in Brisbane, Australia!). When people are involved in a photo I make, there is something more than a record of place and time being created. Lately, I’ve started exploring the philosophy of Emmanuel Levinas and his “phenomenology of the face,” the idea that the human face is not a mere object to be seen, but an encounter that demands a response.
Levinas wrote that:
“The skin of the face is that which stays most naked, most destitute… there is an essential poverty in the face.”
In the biting cold of the canal, that “nakedness” feels literal. To be honest, these aren’t necessarily things I’m actively thinking about while trying to keep my fingers warm enough to adjust a dial… But as I reflect on these images now, it reminds me that my job isn’t just to find the right light, but to capture the moment the camera ceases to be a barrier and becomes a witness to that raw, human vulnerability. It’s a lofty goal, and perhaps an unattainable one. Beyond the challenge of accessing something so profound in another person, additionally, this encounter is never a one-way street.
Inevitably, I am present in every frame. To document any wedding, or anything really, is to acknowledge that my perspective, my aesthetic leanings, and even the way I felt the cold on my own face that afternoon are embedded in every image I make.
Ultimately, I’m chasing what I think of as “memory’s truth”. A photograph, for me, shouldn’t be a cold, objective record of a historical fact; it’s a subjective archive of how a moment felt. As syrupy as it sounds, I felt Olivia and Zach’s joy radiate through the lens, a warmth I suspect the strangers skating past felt, too. I hope you feel a flicker of that when you look at these photos.
If you’re planning a wedding that feels a bit “quietly radical”, whether that involves skating a frozen canal, a summer camp in the woods, or a ceremony in a space that simply feels like you. Then I’d love to hear from you. I’m always looking for couples who value the experience of their day over traditional perfection. Wherever your adventure takes you, I’d be honoured to be there to witness it.
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Equipment used: Panasonic Lumix S5IIX and S5II with a Panasonic 20-200 f/2.8, Panasonic 50mm f/1.8 & Sigma 35mm f/2
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