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Photography News | Issue 50 | photographynews.co.uk
Switcher stories Jimmy Cheng For wedding and street photographer Jimmy Cheng, the OM-D E-M1 Mark II provides the perfect marriage of features and performance
Confessing that he’s addicted to weddings, Jimmy Cheng tells us that he’s been shooting big days since 2008, but his love affair with photography beganmuch earlier. In the 1990s, he started photography with Canon DSLRs, and stuck with them when he turned professional, for his weddings and street work. The influence of street photographyisclearinhisapproach to weddings, which Jimmy describes as “wedding journalism”. “During my amateur days, I was fascinated by photojournalism and documentary,” he says. “I love photo books from famous photojournalists and am intrigued
by their iconic images that told stories. When I became a wedding photographer, I tried to do the same for my clients so they could relive their big days throughmy images. “Not only does the wedding day go by quickly, it’s also multifaceted. So many things are happening simultaneously and most likely I am the only person who will witness all the aspects, from the first tea after waking up to the last candle of the day!” This approach has evolved into a new strand to his business: Love Journey. These shoots were born when he realised that his storytelling,documentaryapproach
didn’t fit with the engagement and pre-wedding shoots he was being asked for. Recognising that how the couple get to their wedding day is a story, he chose to focus on this rather than posing couples for engagement portraits. “A wedding signifies a new chapter in life but at the same time, a wedding day is only half the story,” he says. “The other half lies in how and where the couple met and the journey they took together before the big day. That’s the story I love to recreate to complete the first part of their journey. “On a Love Journey the couple revisits all those places from their
first dates and hangouts. They are often very ordinary venues but they are personal and memorable to the couple. “When I describe this to my potential couples, they are always intrigued by the idea and those who booked my Love Journey photo shoot would hire me as their wedding photographer too.” Whether he’s photographing a couple on a Love Journey shoot, a wedding day or approaching interesting looking characters on the street, Jimmy favours a discrete approach. Which is why his Canon cameras have given way to Olympus OM-Ds. “Canon brought
me the performance and reliability that I demanded when I turned pro in 2008. But after four years, I was beginning to see the ‘limits’ in DSLR development when the mirrorless cameras starting to pop up everywhere,” he explains. “I was longing for a more discreet way to photographmy subjects; traditional DSLRs were just too big and intimidating and often attracted unnecessary attention. “I was really intrigued with the concept of the Micro Four Thirds system when the very first camera went on sale. It was the size of the system that really captured my interest. Then I bought the E-M5
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