Romantic, Authentic, Ethical
Early on in my photography studies when I was just sixteen, I became inspired by gorgeous pre-raphaelite artwork. I studied for hours all about the pre-raphaelite 'brotherhood' (even though there were female pre-raphaelite artists later too) founded in 1848 by a group of poets, painters and art critics. I was always fascinated by the idea of a doctrine for a group of artists, this is what William Michael Rossetti came up with:
- to have genuine ideas to express;
- to study Nature attentively, so as to know how to express them;
- to sympathise with what is direct and serious and heartfelt in previous art, to the exclusion of what is conventional and self-parading and learned by rote;
- and most indispensable of all, to produce thoroughly good pictures and statues.
Reading these doctrines now, I am surprised how much I relate to them - especially with how I enjoy capturing photos. I'm passionate about authenticity, I'm always inspired by nature and my main goal is to always create great images outside of what is conventional. I began to wonder what the pre-raphaelite's would have created for a bridal inspired editorial. So I decided to allow myself to become inspired by this, yet again, all these years later.
Last year I collaborated with some amazing eco-conscious female suppliers to create beautiful images together, all to celebrate those romantic feminine pre-raphaelite aesthetics. Myself and Gwenda from Green Union, got started with the planning and organising - we both decided straight away that we needed the PERFECT venue for this. Luckily the beautiful Pelham House agreed to host our shoot, and we are so pleased that they did. We also realised that we wanted to create TWO bridal looks - so I captured Gwenda's daughter Nadia and fellow photographer/model Megan Farmer.
I hope you enjoy this set of images and they give you some inspiration. It's super important to me to work on these creative collaborations, so I can show people that it is possible to have a gorgeous eco-wedding and keep everything locally sourced. You can read more about how the suppliers that worked on this shoot, including how Karen Dornielle used silk fabric made from oranges and bananas over the Green Union blog post here.
Suppliers
Hair & Makeup - Toni Searle Beauty - Vegan and Low-waste approach
Bridal Outfits - Karen Dornellie - Uses gorgeous sustainable fabrics and custom sizes
Jewellery - Lunar James - Sustainable jewellery, ethically made in London
Floral Design - Bryony Mae Flowers - Loves to use local pesticide-free seasonal flowers
Stationery - Made by Rae - Uses recycled and ethically sourced paper
Wedding Cakes - Cakes & Leaves - Uses all-natural plant powders
Furniture & Props - Luna & The Lane - reuses props and predominately buys secondhand/upcyled furniture
Styling & Co-ordination: Green Union - Gwenda is amazing, do check out Green Union if you're looking for more eco suppliers!
Nadia - First Bridal Look
Megan - Second Bridal Look
The details
