Digitalab Featured Photographer: Kristian Leven
At Digitalab, we know that you can’t underestimate the power of a truly exceptional image. The beauty of photography as an art form is in its diversity – with so many wonderful genres and so many utterly unique photographers out there, photography means many different things to many different people. That’s why we asked London wedding photographer Kristian Leven for one of his images and asked him a couple of questions to find out exactly how he fell in love with photography and what he’d say to any aspiring photographer hoping to make a career out of their passion.
Tell us a bit about this image and why you chose it to be featured.
On a wedding day I’m continually walking around, building up a story of the day, to remind the Bride and Groom what happened, and what they might have missed. The day goes by in a blur, and these are the images that they’ll remember it by so it’s important that the pictures evoke the spirit of the day. At this particular wedding there were plenty of garden games going on and a healthy dose of banter, so it was my goal to get a killer image that captured that. I’ve been at a few weddings where there’s been giant Jenga, and I’ve always observed for that moment when the tower topples over, but this was the moment when everything came together, and I haven’t bettered it since!
Which styles of photography most interest/inspire you?
I’d say I’m most inspired by street photography, and it’s probably the style that resonates with me the most. I love how street photographers are able to take great pictures of the seemingly mundane, and how they constantly adapt to changing conditions, using these conditions to their advantage. When you head out onto the street, you have no idea what you will encounter. This unpredictability frees the mind and allows you to imagine a day with endless possibilities. I approach a wedding day in much the same way – looking for original compositions, beautiful light, and keeping an open mind to the day’s events. By doing so it’s helped kept things fresh, and has just reinforced how important street photography has become to my work.
What one piece of advice would you give to an aspiring photographer?
I’ve found wedding photography to be quite restrictive by nature, with a routine and pattern that has to be adhered to. Sure, we can be creative within the confines of the day, but I think to truly realise your photographic potential, you need to head out, open your mind, and shoot something different for a while. Whether that’s fashion, street, a personal documentary project – whatever it is to help break you from seeing things from a purely wedding perspective. Once you do that you’ll start being ahead of the game, rather than following it.