The Best of 2017

Award Winning Photo

“Nothing exists except through human consciousness.”– George Orwell

The Best Documentary Wedding Photojournalism of 2017

Each year I do an annual round-up, and each year I say how things are better than they’ve ever been – I talk about all of the achievements won and friendships made and then comment about how the following year will be even better, it’s a predictable pattern that most wedding photographers follow (here’s my 2016 round-up). But the thing is, 2017 really has been an incredible journey. I’ll start at the beginning:

My son was born in November, 2016 – and I’ve had the entire year to get to know little Noah. He’s all of the best bits of me and more. Imogen also started school in September and continues to wow me. She’s so clever but humble at the same time. I literally cannot put into words how blessed I feel to have 2 perfect loving wonderful children in my life. I have always said to my couples that “I document for the people that haven’t been born yet” and I’ve felt that more than ever this year. It puts a new perspective on things. I can’t wait to be around my 2 angels and there’s no doubt that both Imogen and Noah have influenced and inspired my work. And then my gorgeous wife and best friend Lindsay. Everything I have is because of her – she is the glue that holds our family together especially when I’ve taken on too much work. To say I’m lucky to have her is an understatement. She is the kindest most caring person I know – and she influences and nurtures my creative soul.

On the morning of Thursday 30th March, I was informed that I had secured a place at the University of the Arts in London to study for an MA in photojournalism, a life long ambition. I was, and still am a little in shock about it all. My course leader is Paul Lowe, a hugely respected journalist that has covered many breaking stories around the world including the fall of the Berlin wall and Bosnian conflict. It’s a privilege to learn from somebody of Paul’s calibre and to study at one of the best institutions in the world. At the time of writing this I’ve almost finished my first term and things are going amazingly well. The feedback that I’ve had about my wedding photography has been immense. On my introductory tutorial I was told that my reportage style is some of the best in the world… When you receive phenomenal feedback from anybody it’s always an honour, but to hear those words come from an award winning war photojournalist is almost beyond comprehension.

And of course, my wedding photography (after all that’s why you’re here right!) – What. A. Year.

I’ve documented intensively this season, selectively hand picking amazing weddings that fit with my ethos. I’ve had a blast. I’ve (literally) laughed and cried. It’s been both exhausting and exhilarating! I’ve made even more friends and learned so much more about the world around me.

I’ve also shot some of the best wedding photography of my career and won a heap of international awards too (32 to be exact)
Don’t get me wrong, I don’t shoot for awards, however they seem to come – it’s almost a natural consequence of how I do my job. I have picked up 2 Fearless awards, 7 ISPWP’s (3 in the top 10, and 1 in the top 3!), 3 SLR Lounge awards (1 of them was a prestigious Apex award, only given to the top 1% of winners), 3 from the Wedding Photographer Society, 7 awards from Wedding Photography Select and a further 10 from Wedisson. And if that wasn’t enough at the time of writing this I’ve bagged an eye watering 78 81 MyWed Editor’s Choice commendations (5 of which have been short listed for the MyWed Awards of 2017).
UPDATE: As of 29th December, the ISPWP has me ranked as number 47 in the world! (or number 3 in the UK). You can read more about it here.

In addition to the above list of achievements I was nominated again for the Rangefinder Magazine 30 Rising Stars of Wedding Photography Award, and as of December – Fearless Photographers, Wedding Photography Select, GoHen, MyWed & Wedding Photographer Society have all ranked me either well inside the top 100 in the world or somewhere in the top 10 for the UK! Incredible!

You can check out all of my awards and commendations here.

I’ve travelled thousands of miles, shaken hundreds of hands and expanded my consciousness by seeing things from different perspectives.

And to my lovely couples that trusted in me to tell their story with honesty, love and devotion (and a large sprinkle of my unique action packed fun documentary style); thank you. I love each and every one of you and I am eternally grateful that I get to document memories of amazing things for amazing people.

In past years I have presented hundreds of photos on my annual round-ups, but this year I decided to go with my favourite 42. There’s no particular reason why I picked 42, it just felt like a good number. Reducing over 500,000+ to only 42 has been very hard, this is only 0.008% of everything I’ve shot this year! They’re in no particular order – just moments in pictures that I adore for various reason 🙂 Enjoy

∞

Aaron

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