When Artus Geisler directs a wedding portrait, he asks the couple to move. He watches for the moment they forget he’s there. Their posture changes. Someone laughs halfway through. We asked him how he makes room for those moments while working across film, digital photography and video.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
How would you describe your approach to wedding photography?
To me, the connection between two people is a landscape of its own. Just like the natural world, every relationship carries its own weight and atmosphere. A wedding holds both intentional performance and moments that are completely unguided. It’s important to me to make room for both. I favour storytelling over fast-paced coverage. Creativity needs room to breathe, too.
I use mood boards to understand what a couple is drawn to, then rely on intuition on the day. Even when I’m directing a portrait, I guide through mood and movement. I think of a still photograph the same way I think of a moving image, as a living piece of a larger story.
Why work with 35mm film, Super 8, ’90s camcorders and digital?
Every format carries its own weight and emotional temperature. Film feels different from digital. I think the return to physical media is partly a reaction to how much of our lives we spend online and how quickly AI has arrived. It can make you nostalgic for a time you didn’t live through.
Digital gives me more flexibility and sharpness, and a drone lets me show the wedding in its landscape. With Super 8, I have to think carefully about every second I capture. A ’90s camcorder is much more agile. I can follow the energy in a room and catch something spontaneous while keeping that texture. I like what happens when those formats sit alongside one another.
How do you work across formats on the wedding day?
I get this question in almost every client consultation. The experience should feel calm for the couple, so I bring in support when they request the full mix of formats. I choose a second photographer for each wedding and work with trusted collaborators for the camcorder footage. That lets me stay present and pay attention to the light, composition and what’s happening between people.
For bookings under nine hours, I handle digital, 35mm and drone work myself. I use digital for fast-moving moments, save 35mm for portraits and details, and fly the drone in quieter windows, before things get under way or while guests are seated for dinner.
What do you mean when you call a wedding a performance?
Let’s be honest. Weddings have always had an element of performance, for the guests, for the tradition and for the camera. A ceremony has a structure. What interests me is what happens around it. A couple’s posture shifts when they forget the camera is there, or someone laughs halfway through a portrait. Those moments can’t be faked. That’s the realness I want to capture.
What should couples look for in a photographer or filmmaker?
Look for someone whose perspective feels close to your own. You’ll spend a lot of the wedding day with them, so choose someone who respects your time and your vision, and whose company you genuinely enjoy.
The day goes by in a blur. Years later, I want the images to work like that one song you always go back to. You hear it and you’re right there again. Bringing back that feeling twenty years from now is the whole point of my work.
Photography by Artus Geisler
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