How I came to photograph weddings
A photographer since 1992
Lawrence Banahan, documentary wedding photographer
Where it began
Lawrence Banahan, wedding photographer on the French Riviera and in Provence
I was about ten when I found the family Kodak Instamatic. Nobody made much of it at the time, and it changed everything.
I photographed the village where I grew up: faces I knew, the light shifting with the seasons, the small gestures of ordinary days. I understood early that a photograph holds more than a memory. It holds a presence, and sometimes a truth the person in it had not noticed.
The Kodak Retinette came next. It taught me patience and precision, and it taught me that light has something to say if you give it the time.
From vocation to profession
Read the light, anticipate the moment, understand the room, respect the silences. These things are learnt slowly, and they still govern every day I work.
That discipline has shaped my work as a wedding photographer on the French Riviera and in Provence since 2009.
I photograph couples in Cannes, Nice, Monaco and the Provençal countryside, in grand venues and in more intimate settings.
A quiet presence, an attentive eye
My approach is documentary and unobtrusive. I prefer what happens to what is arranged.
Each wedding has its own shape, and my role is to keep it faithfully: present without imposing, watching without interrupting. The photographs should still feel right in twenty years.
You will find some recent weddings in the Stories section, where I share days photographed on the French Riviera and in Provence.
« What a wonderful experience we had with Lawrence. From the very first moments, his warm approach and professionalism immediately put us at ease in front of the camera, even though we were quite reserved at the beginning. His discretion and talent were remarkable: he captured with great sensitivity all those precious little moments, from knowing glances to spontaneous laughter, as well as the pure emotional moments that shaped our beautiful day. »
Valérie & Frédéric
Your wedding, photographed the way it happened, so that the pictures belong to you and not to a formula. No props, no arranged poses. I stay in the background and follow the day as it unfolds, chapter by chapter.
When a moment needs a nudge, I give it. A quiet word, a suggestion about where to stand, and your guests take it from there. The attention stays on the emotion and on the bonds already between you, rather than on anything staged.
You live those hours without thinking about the technical side. That part is mine, and it takes up more of the work than people imagine. The lighting in reception venues has grace and very little power, so I build my own light with off-camera flashes, so that faces keep their softness and colours stay true right through to the last slow dance. I work regularly with the same venues and partners, which makes a day run more smoothly.
It has been this way from the start. I trained at the ETPA in Toulouse, graduated in 1992, and my diploma was validated by the national examination of the École Nationale Supérieure Louis Lumière in Paris. I started in fashion photography studios in Paris, then worked for the Gamma and Vandystadt press agencies, before founding my own agency, A Chacun Son Image: magazine work, travel guides, several collections of the Michelin guides. Weddings came later, and I found in them the intimacy and the emotion I had been looking for. I stayed.
Travel takes up a good part of my life, and it comes with the work. Old towns, history and architecture still hold me. I have sailed for a long time, and I have chaired my club and still serve as its vice-president. After three in the afternoon you will find me outside, waiting for the low light of the end of the day.
Photographing every stage of a couple's road is what I like best, from the engagement to the last dance. Some of that work appears on Instagram, and I give it little time: I would rather spend it on real moments and on the people in front of me.
From past couples
« Lawrence doesn’t just capture images. He captures the soul of a moment. Each photograph instantly brings us back to the emotion of that day. »
Camille & Adrien, Saint-Jean-Cap-Ferrat
« His presence is discreet and reassuring. We felt free to be ourselves, and that is exactly what we see reflected in our images. »
Sofia & Marc, Monaco
Kind words from past couples
« My husband and I were very stressed, but Lawrence knew how to calm us and ease the atmosphere. Thank you, Lawrence, for your simplicity and kindness. », Linan & Jean Christophe
Lawrence Banahan, wedding photographer on the French Riviera
How a day is covered
A wedding photographed as it happens
Tell me about your day