I didn’t want to do the usual styled shoot.
When Mandy from “Eventful by Mandy” and I came together to brainstorm an idea for a styled shoot, I knew from the get-go that I wanted to do something different. I wanted to do a styled shoot that was more along my style: unposed and more authentic. Mandy brought in the idea of doing an Asian-Fusion themed wedding.
Through some continued discussion, we eventually came up with this idea of what came to be a fusion of a lot of things. Styled but not posed (cinematic, in fact), old Asian influences and homages to the past but in a modern context, classical Shanghai Jazz from grammaphones and Iphones being used for selfies: Asian Fusion.
The idea then was how to form it. As mentioned, I didn’t want to do the typical posed photos. I wanted a narrative, a story and characters you cared about. This led eventually to the creation of “script” that would dictate the flow of the photographs. From there, we found our location, our actors/models (a real-life wedding couple!) and our props and put it all together.
From my friend Jeffrey’s place to the streets and alleys of Chinatown to the final stop at Chinatown BBQ, we wanted to show that there is beauty in the moment but also that styled wedding shoots can have a narrative. We also wanted to show that you can successfully merge the old and the new and create something beautiful in the process.
Huge shout outs to the following:
Mandy at Eventful by Mandy who helped plan and organize and give life to this project.
Henry and Katbie (@blanc143 on Instagram) who took time out of their newly married life to be a part of this project.
My friend Jeffrey Wong who opened his house to us so we could create scene.
Cathy at Sweetease Cupcakes, who created the amazingly beautiful cake.
The folks at Chinatown BBQ who gave us permission to use a part of their restaurant to create our final scene.
Our story begins with Kat writing a letter…
