If you’re newly engaged and starting to look for a photographer you’d like to hire to capture your wedding day, you may have come across this phrase “documentary-style wedding photography” or “photojournalistic wedding photography” or maybe “candid wedding photography” in your searches. Maybe it’s peaked your interest a little bit and you’ve found yourself wondering what is documentary style photography? Let’s see if this is the kind of photography style you’d like to have for your wedding.

So what is documentary style wedding photography?

Fundamentally, documentary style photography is finding photographs instead of creating them. The photographer with this style will be watching events unfold in front of them to understand the narrative and then capture it in a way that documents it as emotionally-accurate as possibly.

To flush that out a bit further, documentary style photographs are honest and full of emotion and free of any direction from the photographer. It’s the photo of dad tearing up while he gives his daughter away, holding on to her hand as long as he can. It’s the photo of grandma holding up her iPad in the middle of the ceremony, blocking the view of everyone around her. Honestly, I think we’re going to love those photos in 30 years. It’s the photo of the groom giving his bride a comforting smile during an emotional moment in her mother’s speech.

On a wedding day, documentary style photographs capture messiness and love — I mean real, honest, pure, quiet, altruistic love. They might not be the photos you show off to the entire world, but they’re definitely the photos you show your babies and grand babies so they can see just how much love is present in their family.

Most photographers who ascribe themselves to this style will offer a mix of this candid approach with a slightly more editorial or posed style, but they often allow their client to share their preferences so they can create the right balance. If you hire this style of photographer, be in open communication with them about how much interference you’re comfortable with. Do you have a preference of when they jump in to adjust things to make the photo look slightly better or when they should take a step back and document things completely candidly.

For those curious, my approach to wedding days is a mix of this documentary style and a more posed, editorial style to bring my clients the best of both worlds. If you’d like to read about the editorial style of photography, check out the blog post on that one here: What Does Editorial Photography Mean?

Sonia V Photography

Documentary-style photography is all about capturing those candid, in-between moments that truly reflect your relationships with your people. The unposed shots tell the real story, preserving the joy and authenticity of your day. If you have any questions or would like to see more of our wedding galleries, feel free to reach out—we’d love to chat!