Edoardo Agresti, Italy
While Edoardo Agresti’s subject matter spans from weddings to cultures around the globe, the driving force behind it does not vary. It is his love of reporting on what lies between his camera and the world that comes across in every image he captures.
Edoardo views each wedding he photographs as a journey. “The wedding is an event and if you want to tell [its] story, you must shoot in a photojournalistic style,” the lifelong traveler says. He has been traveling since the age of 9. Along with photography, he attributes his love of travel to his father. Travel, he says, “has helped me develop a particular sensitivity, and tune my heart and mind, so that I can capture reality in all its beauty, depth and intimacy.”
His work reads like a travelogue. Whether capturing Indian spirituality in all its forms or the backstage at a music concert an African funeral or a wedding, he approaches each event the same: in a reportage style. He describes how he’s gotten to where he is, “You must grow up studying the work of colleagues and not only taking a look to wedding photographers but to the photojournalism panorama. My work changes every day. It’s tied to my mood, my experience, my way of living. It's the reflex of my soul.”
Drawing a parallel between weddings and traveling, Edoardo breaks each down to its constituent parts: planning, getting ready, anxiety, joy, trepidation, and so on. Of course, we can’t forget the unknown variables that are born out of each event. In both instances, you can plan everything to the smallest detail, and yet there is still an opportunity for the unexpected. This is where Edoardo camera comes into focus.
One of the first photographers to convert a digital camera to be used for infrared photography, Edoardo prefers this technique because it’s creating something that you cannot see with your eyes. In infrared photography, the green in the image turns to white. This creates a stunning effect, as evident throughout his work. Edoardo uses it in wedding photography, because it “creates a suspension of time and space.”
The wedding’s location, its style or the cultures it represents do not matter. The suspension of time and space is what every bride and groom wants. The day should stand outside of time. It should not be tied to its physical space. Like a journey, the panorama of Edoardo’s work takes its admirers somewhere new. It is a beautiful, poignant and magical place.
– Lauren Ragland / For the Wedding Photojournalist Association
