Sharing, training and inspirations, awards, partners and exhibitors, an exhibition with more than 60 fine art photographic prints taken by the association’s members to celebrate wedding photography, gala dinners and lots of fun. Again this year the most awaited event organized by ANFM, the National Association of Wedding Photographers, has arrived and, after a few days, one cannot say anything else that it was a great success!
Almost 300 photographers, a board of 11 people, 4 exceptional masters and more than 30 masterclasses in which the masters told their story, their life, their work and how they got there.
We were lucky enough to listen to four international masters, I tell you about them – very briefly, I have a lot to tell you!
When Ben and Erin Chrisman’s work rose to international prominence in 2008, it was because they weren’t playing by the typical rules of wedding photography. They are the ones who opened the doors of Matera’s Palazzo Malvini Malvezzi to all of us!
Guido Harari told us about photography as a life/passion/work project, the portrait as an encounter with the other, photography as a quality of time spent together.
“Don’t shoot what it looks like. Shoot what it feels like ”: David Alan Harvey’s photography (and Alejandra Martinez Moreno) ignite the human psyche.
The Richters’ style is raw and honest, far from wedding industry trends or standards; bold and charismatic, listening to them was like being swallowed by a hurricane!
Among the many meetings organized, one of the most awaited moments of the evening was that of the awards.
ANFM organizes contests every year in which each of us can show our work, our personality and our thoughts.
On the occasion of the evening we attended the awarding of the winners of the contest dedicated to Silvia Agus, photographer of the year, album of the year (single and multiple photographer) and single photos contest 2022.
This year for the contest dedicated to Silvia Agus we, unlike in other years, could participate and create a personal project.
If ANFM is what it has become, it is largely thanks to Silvia, a fantastic photographer with curly red hair.
I dedicate my position among the TOP 10 in the contest dedicated to Silvia Agus to Paola – and also to Francesca.
Although in the C1 contest, the one dedicated to single photos, I only obtained a mention for one photograph (in the SINGLE PHOTOS contest – EMOTION category), the C2 contest was, objectively, a success: the judges awarded six of my photographs (DETAILS , GETTING READY, PORTRAIT, RECEPTION, CEREMONY, COMPOSITION categories); given the result, the c3 contest was no different: I was awarded third place in the SINGLE PHOTOS 2022 contest (in the C3, four photographs were awarded in the COUPLE PORTRAIT, FINE ART, CEREMONY, FRAME THE SUBJECT categories).
EMOTIONS C1 category
DETAILS C2 category
GETTING READY C2 category
PORTRAIT C2 category
RECEPTION C2 category
CEREMONY C2 category
COMPOSITION C2 category
COUPLE PORTRAIT C3 category
FINE ART C3 category
CEREMONY C3 category
FRAME THE SUBJECT C3 category
The scores accumulated in the various contests allowed me to return to the TOP 10 of the PHOTOGRAPHER OF THE YEAR 2022 contest.
I have already explained to you the meaning of the word compete, which means “to ask, to go together, to converge towards the same point”: ANFM means precisely this, to surround oneself with the skills of others, to make them work in synergy for a common purpose, ex-sistere, in the sense of bringing one’s self out of oneself and I am so proud to be part of this big family, to which I am grateful, for having become the person I am.
Thanks ANFM, and thanks to each of the people who believe in me every day.