I want you to be happy

I want you to have happy engagement photos.

But I have a Tyra Banks problem: I don’t want you to be a model.

Models are amazing, and they are paid to create an artistic vision. They are not paid to enjoy the experience. 

When we bring the aesthetics of modeling into mainstream photography (I’m looking at YOU instagram), aren’t we just saying to people that their experiences matter less than how good they looked in them? 

We have fetish-ized looking obliquely at the camera. Frowning ever so slightly in the distance. Being stone faced in front of shadowy buildings. 

What happened to real joy. Like, unabashed hilariously giddy happy joy? That is what I document. That is what I want you to feel. 

I don’t really want you to “smize”. I want you to laugh so hard that your eyes crinkle up and you pull your partner right next to your face and you smile together. 

I don’t want you to try and be a model. I want you to live this life and I want to document it.

And so all I’m going to say about these images of John and Taryn is this: They let me put them into a lilac bush in the setting sun and document their total utter happiness.

  • article about happy engagement photos with this portrait of couple by lilac blooms with sun setting behind them
    Look at each other and I’ll stay out of the way
  • portrait of couple on stairs by minnehaha falls. woman has her arm draped around mans shoulder, they are laughing
    That is how happiness feels – Happy engagement photos
  • advice about having happy engagement photos featuring portrait of couple at minnehaha falls
    Thank you, Minneapolis, for having spaces as amazing at Minnehaha Falls and for having couples as happy as Taryn and John.
  • moody portrait of couple by fence with minnehaha falls behind them
    A touch of the pacitic northwest lives in Minneapolis at Minnehaha Falls in the summer time.
  • fun portrait of couple holding each other on stairs at minnehaha falls park
    Always hold each other like this
  • article about having happy engagement photos featuring portrait of couple surrounded by lilac bush in minneapolis
    No, back up another few steps, I said.
  • man and woman in front of minnehaha falls in minneapolis
    Happiness and engagement photos
  • sunlight behind couple at blooming lilac bush in minneapolis
    What joy is this?
  • portrait of couple sitting next to each other with minnehaha falls behind them
    Happy engagement photos
  • portrait of couple kissing by fence with minnehaha falls behind them
    A sun-bathed kiss at Minnehaha Falls
  • happy engagement photos with this funny portrait of couple inside a lilac bush with blooms around their faces
    I call this “Lilac bush, with couple. Minneapolis”