Stephen Lodziak: Putting the fun factor into wedding photographs

Saturday, 22 November 2014 00:09 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

A few years ago Stephen Lodziak came to the realisation that although conventional photography was capable of accurately capturing the joy and revelry present at occasions like weddings and parties, it could never really add to them. What he needed was a way to get his subjects more involved in the entire photo-taking process. After much thought and experimentation, he eventually found it in a photo booth.

By erecting such booths at large and fun-filled gatherings, Stephen allows guests to take funny, high definition photographs, complete with props and comic expressions, then immediately email the images to themselves for more pointing and laughing. The concept is rapidly gaining ground says the UK-born professional skills trainer, who dabbles in event photography, and has the potential to be a staple at ceremonies in Sri Lanka like it is in the Western world. “It’s unique because people get to take pictures of themselves and the photographer is not involved. I just set it up and they take the pictures. The picture is projected behind them as it is taken so this has the effect of enabling people to look around and laugh at themselves while they try to take a better one. There is no limit to how many they can take before they eventually end up with a photo they like,” Stephen explains. “The final quality of the image is very high so it’s essentially a professional photograph, one which a lot of people have never taken of themselves.”

Prized images

A brief glance through Stephen’s recent photographs reveals just how crazy people are willing to get to walk away with one of these prized images of themselves. Everything from the ingenious use of already hilarious props to impossibly contorted faces are on display, with Stephen revealing that things get even more ludicrous once the guests, particularly at weddings, get even more inebriated. What is funnier for Stephen though is how he has so deeply immersed himself in photography given that he had absolutely no intention of doing so until he hit his 30s. This was primarily due to the fact that his father was a photographer and always seemed so burdened by his work. However, a work stint in Japan dispelled his reservations entirely and promptly piqued his interest in the profession. “In Japan they are geeky about technology and this influenced me to become geeky about technology as well. While I was there I had a nice camera so one day somebody asked me to come along on a wedding shoot,” he said.

Photo booth concept

From that point onwards Stephen was hooked and his newly-acquired penchant for technological tinkering forced him to explore better ways of engaging the subjects of his photographs. This in turn led him towards the photo booth concept, which over time he has refined through an arduous process of trial and error. However, his photo booths are not done evolving yet, much like his love for photography. Over time, Stephen hopes to make more features available to those stepping into his booths, especially an option to produce immediate, high quality printouts of the pictures they take. Further down the road, Stephen also hopes to introduce a shift from regular photo booth snapshots to slow-motion imaging, which is hugely popular across the West. For the moment though, Stephen is content letting click-happy hordes stream into his photo booth, shed their inhibitions and leave with laughter. For more information about Stephen’s work visit www.stephenlodziak.photography or call 0772237763/0114383488.