The Wedding Bureau Annual Photojournalism Grant, 2005
Judge: Maggie Steber
Grant Recipient: Michele McDonald
Finalists: Porter Gifford, Erik Freeland
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Click image to view portfolio
Michele McDonald, The Wedding Bureau photographer covering New England, is a freelance photojournalist based in Boston. She is a former staff photographer of the Boston Globe and Virginian-Pilot Ledger-Star. She is a frequent lecturer and exhibitor. She was a finalist for both the Robert F. Kennedy Photojournalism Award and the Pulitzer Prize and was awarded the prestigious Nieman Fellowship from Harvard University.
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Click image to view portfolio
Porter Gifford is an accomplished photojournalist covering the New England region for the Wedding Bureau. After graduation from Harvard University, Porter journeyed from Cape Town to Cairo documenting life on the African continent.
During his fourteen-year career, Porter has produced insightful photo essays around the globe for leading publications such as Business Week, The New York Times Magazine, Time, Life, U.S. News & World Report, and People.
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Click image to view portfolio
Erik Freeland photographs weddings for The Wedding Bureau in New York and Northern New Jersey. Erik is a graduate of the Rochester Institute of Technology where he won the College Photographer of the Year award sponsored by Photo District News and Nikon.
He is a former staff photographer for U.S. News & World Report magazine and now freelances for The New York Times, Time, Newsweek, Business Week and others.
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We are proud to award the first Wedding Bureau Photojournalism Grant to Michele McDonald. As photojournalists we are committed to the idea that our photographs can effect positive societal change by shedding light on the subjects and issues of the day. At the same time, as wedding photojournalists, we take pleasure in capturing the people, traditions, rituals, and emotions of one of the most momentous days in the lives of two people and those close to them. It is to the former role that we address this grant.
With the creation of this annual award, we hope to help support the passions and talents that Wedding Bureau photojournalists bring to their editorial work. In this way, we believe we can truly say that when a bride and groom come to The Wedding Bureau to hire a real photojournalist for their wedding, they know they are getting a passionate, multi-talented photographer who believes in the power of photographs. The winning photojournalist will use the award to help fund a photo project on a subject of social importance. The photos produced from this grant will be published on a page linked to The Wedding Bureau website.
While we believe that all the photographers we represent are the best in the business, we know that competition can help fuel their talent further. The three photographers whose pictures you see on these pages were the one's who photographed the most weddings in 2005 for The Wedding Bureau. We asked those three to submit 15 of their best photographs from those weddings. The photos were then judged by one of the most talented and respected documentary photojournalists in the country, Maggie Steber. We are grateful for Maggie's time and talents. And we are also grateful to all the brides and grooms who trust their wedding photographs to the best photojournalists in the country.
Maggie's Comments:
I first looked at each photographer's body of work to decide on the general look, feel, variety, technique, beauty, moments, etc. Then I counted how many images in each body of work had classic images of beauty and moments, things that will withstand the test of time and that are different from what one might see in typical wedding coverage. Then I compared these selected images with one another. I did the same with the more traditional shots one might expect to see and in those, then looked for something that also set them apart or above other similar shots.
It was a difficult decision and it took me days to make it. All three entries had exceptional individual photographs, things that could be considered classic and beautiful, pictures full of surprises, story-telling images, wonderful moments. I tried to look at the portfolios from two viewpoints: one was from the viewpoint of the bride and groom and how they felt their special day was recorded for prosperity, and the other was from a purely photographic point of view.
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