Every Wednesday I feature a fabulous wedding supplier in the south of England. From photography and cakes to event planning and entertainment, these are the people I love to work with and want to shout about!
Today it’s Phillip Allen, aka Mister Phill. I could bang on for ages about how he’s a lovely guy (he is) or how excited I get when I find out he’s photographing a wedding I’m working on (I do), but I can’t really put into words how amazing I think this guy’s pictures are. He’s a genius. I’ve included more than usual just because I couldn’t possibly choose from the ones he sent me! Beautiful.
What service/product do you provide?
I tell the story of a wedding day from beginning to end, in photographs. Or I’m a wedding photographer, put more simply.
Describe yourself in three words:
I love stories.
How did you come to work in weddings?
I was emotionally blackmailed. A friend of a friend had seen my documentary photography work and asked me to photograph his wedding. I declined. I wasn’t enthused by the notion of staging processions of posed photographs (which I’d assumed wedding photography to be all about; I’ve always been a great deal more inclined towards observing and relating things as they occur naturally) and the degree of responsibility was unnerving (I’d not be able to come back and shoot it again the following week if anything went awry). He told me that it was either me or table top disposable cameras. I had no choice, in that case :~)
I photographed his wedding, thoroughly enjoyed the process and it all mushroomed rather rapidly from there.
What do you love most about your job?
The couples I get to work with. They reassure me that the human race has something good going for it.
What part of a wedding makes you go ‘YES!’?
Any point in the day where I’m able to observe, frame and photograph something that epitomises the connection between the couple getting married.
If you were getting married tomorrow, what would you wear?
I’m bereft of sartorial capacity but I’d probably use the occasion as an excuse to buy a tailored three-piece suit, one made with bull’s wool as it’s especially resistant to wear (basically I’d then have me a particularly nice suit to photograph the next few seasons of weddings in).
Seriously, do wedding photographs get any better than that? Check out more on Phill’s website at misterphill.com