Jennifer McMenamin - I grew up in a household of cameras. Nothing fancy. Mostly, just point-and-shoots. But there were always pictures being taken – of every holiday, every ballet recital and school play, and all kinds of every-day moments. I suppose it was contagious. I remember a friend at my first newspaper job joking that going anywhere with me was like traveling with a camera-toting tourist.
Throughout my life, I have documented my little world, as both a writer and a photographer, snapping away at birthday parties, climbing on furniture to get a better angle at family gatherings and holding up vacations and weekend adventures to get just one more shot before the sun went down. My interest in photography grew in 1997 when my aunt – a professional photographer – gave me an old Nikon FA to play with during a semester abroad in Italy. I was hooked.
At about the same time, I discovered a secret love for all things weddings. At the student newspaper at the University of Maryland, where I was studying journalism, I edited our annual bridal supplement. I began shooting pictures at friends' nuptials. And I started sneaking wedding magazines into my grocery cart, just to look at the pictures – even though I was nowhere close to getting married myself.
Seven years later, I took a leave of absence from the newspaper in Baltimore, where I was working as a courts reporter, to go to photography school. Soon after, I began shooting weddings professionally. I've found that I'm a natural storyteller – whether as a writer in front of a computer or a photographer behind a lens. I've also been delighted to discover that my photography provides a nice balance to my work at the newspaper.
When Kevin – also a writer and now my husband – and I were planning our own wedding, we asked a photojournalist friend to document our day. I love looking at those pictures and remembering the joy and magic that we felt as we exchanged our vows and celebrated our love, surrounded by our friends and family. I am honored and humbled to be entrusted with documenting people's weddings in a similar fashion.
I enjoy making pictures that remind couples of that kind of love and that tell the story of one of the happiest days of their lives. I love documenting the spontaneous moments that make a wedding so special, the little details that brides spend so much time planning, and the intimate moments between a bride and groom when they are simply enjoying their day, unaware that they are being photographed. It's way more fun than I ever imagined it could be when I started buying wedding magazines all those years ago.
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