Documentary Wedding Photo Contest Highlights the Best Candid Shots of Nuptials Around the World

October 21, 2020

Wedding celebrations lend themselves to meticulous planning. But even in the most coordinated events, you can’t fully anticipate the emotions that will ultimately guide the ceremony, reception, and everything in between. These are the moments that make a wedding truly unforgettable, but they can be lost in the blur of the day. Documentary wedding photographers help capture these candid moments, doing a great service to the couple so that they’ll always be able to relive it. This is Reportage celebrates the creatives who know when to snap the shutter on these moments. Their Reportage Awards recognizes candid wedding images, and Collection Seventeen features some of the best unposed photographs from around the world.

With over 12,000 images submitted for Collection Seventeen, the panel of five judges certainly had their work cut out for them. They selected just 133 photographs for Reportage Awards, and their picks highlight how multifaceted and unique each celebration is. Some images showcase raucous parties with hilarious pranks and awesome dance moves, while other pictures document quiet moments of getting ready or intimate conversations between loved ones. And as weddings continue in 2020, many of these photos reflect the pandemic we’re still living through. One particularly poignant image features a couple, dressed in a suit and wedding dress, wearing masks as they are wed in an empty room by government officials.

Scroll down to see more from Collection Seventeen and get a brief but compelling look into the lives of the betrothed. And if you’re a wedding photographer with candid images to share, Collection Eighteen is now accepting submissions until November 23, 2020.