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Dror Eyal is a South African wedding photographer living and working in Johannesburg and Cape Town. Though undeniably photo-documentary in nature, Dror's wedding work is defined through an editorial urge to fix narratives to his subjects. His images create a loose, layered and intensely rich visual scene.

Interview

AIA - How long have you been involved in photography?

DE - Professionally almost 15 years now. I started 'wasting film' as my father liked to say since I was about 12, on a Zenit actually which is this brick of an antique soviet camera, not quite as sexy as a Holga and for good reason. I still have it lying around somewhere in my collection of antique cameras.

AIA - Why wedding photography?

DE - I started off shooting bands and political action in the 90's. I was younger back then, two weeks on a bus hanging out with musicians seemed like a great idea, now, waking up with a hangover in a moving vehicle doesn't seem like such a great idea and I prefer the comfort of my bed.

Where was I, oh yes, wedding photography. I was reading through a copy of Men's Health when I saw this beautiful black and white image of a row of guys in suits, sitting in a chapel staring dead ahead and just the bride looking at the camera out of the corner of her eye. I can still see that image today, I saw it and I was sold. It was an image that told so much about the emotion of that moment, right there in black and white. It was a photojournalistic image that captured the moment, not just who was there and what they were wearing.

Until that moment, I had had the stereotypical idea about wedding photography as a bunch of posed portraits and over-flashed ceremony shots. Most people and other photographers still have that idea. I remember, although she probably doesn't, shooting Marianne Fassler for SL Magazine, when she started dropping hints that she was looking for an alternative approach to her daughter's wedding. I feigned ignorance, I was a hardened portrait and band photographer, weddings were for the grin-and-smile crowd. If you're reading this and your surname is Fassler, I am now available.

AIA - How would you describe your style?

DE - I shoot in a documentary style, a new approach that says who was there and what they were feeling rather than who was there and what they were wearing. It is about the smile on your face when he or she says I do, rather than a silhouette of a magnificent sunset or a fashion spread.

My most precious photos - hahaha I am starting to speak like a wedding photographer, your most precious day - anyway, the most cherished photographs I have of my childhood and pretty much every important moment in my life have been snapped by my father, they aren't taken in a studio and they aren't posed. They are of my brothers and I messing about, trekking around Africa or just chilling on a family holiday. They remind me of what I felt at the time, and bring back those memories. I try bring that kind of documentary approach to my wedding photography, so that when your haul out your wedding album 40 years down the line your granddaughter can see that smile on your face, or the tears, when you said "I do".

AIA - Which South African wedding photographers do you admire?

DE - I rate Andrea Carlyle as one of my favorite wedding photographers at the moment, and her newborn images continue to inspire me. If I was to get married, and I convince either of them, I would get Pieter Hugo or Jodi Bieber to shoot it.

AIA - Where is wedding photography in Africa going as a style? Do we have a style or do we just copy overseas trends?

DE - Well, I certainly find it strange that we have such a legacy of amazing photography and when it comes to wedding photography we just follow the trends, two years behind the rest of the world. The Bang-bang club, people like Pieter and Jodi and several others have been pushing trends and developing a style for years now.

Is it an African style, I don't know, but as for photographers working in the wedding industry, I would have to say that we don't have a style. We copy the overseas style, mainly because that's what is being shown in the local magazines and that's what the clients want.

AIA - What things would you look for in a photographer's portfolio if you were getting married?

DE - My number one and probably the one thing I could not stress enough to any photographer who was shooting my wedding. I would like to see photos of the wedding. I don't want to see images of people lined up, or in a posed environment. I want to see photos of people getting married. I want to see the emotions.

If the entire portfolio looks like a quiet day at home when all my friends decided to show up, nicely dressed and the photographer photographed us in classical or glossy mag poses, then well, he or she has missed the point of actually getting married. I want my photos to remind me of the nervousness I felt, when I held V's hand and asked her to be with me for eternity. I don't to see some picture of her gazing at the sky in a killer dress, well I do, but I can have that taken anytime.

AIA - How can someone you are photographing ensure that they are helping you get the best images of the day?

DE - Ignore me, but feed me. Ignore me, so that I can get those moments. Feed me because I get hungry after five hours on my feet and I get cranky when my blood sugar runs low. Although, I'm much better now that I have cut down on the caffeine.

AIA - What is your favorite image and why?

DE - I think my current favorite image is of my niece, 17 minutes old and screaming her head off. I have stood in line at the traffic department longer than 17 minutes, I have waited for downloads for longer. The concept of being 17 minutes old, and so new and filled with possibility makes me smile every time I see that image. It is framed and hanging in my study.

The next photo in that series, of my sister in law holding her child and seeing her for the very first time blows me away. Just the emotion in her face, it says everything you ever wanted to know about how she feels about Danielle. It's a priceless image for me that will never be replicated no matter how many times she holds Danielle and smiles for the camera.