Vic and Evan celebrated their wedding at Masseria Mozzone, surrounded by olive groves in the countryside outside Ostuni, Puglia.
It was the kind of Italian summer day you imagine when someone says they’re getting married in Puglia — blue skies, beautiful light and temperatures somewhere around 34 degrees. I’d packed four identical shirts for the wedding and, by the end of the day, had managed to work my way through all four of them.
Their ceremony took place amongst the olive trees before a traditional Puglian band arrived to lead everyone from the ceremony towards the reception. Music, people, incredible food and that warm Italian evening light completely changed the atmosphere as the day moved towards dinner.
I photographed the wedding from midday until midnight, predominantly on 35mm film alongside medium format and digital. Puglia feels made for film. The warmth of the stone, dusty greens of the olive trees, strong summer sun and colours around the Masseria all translated beautifully onto analogue.
Later in the evening, we stepped away for a short time as the light began to soften. The golden-hour portraits we made around the Masseria are still some of my favourites — warm, quiet and completely different from the energy of the celebration happening around us.
Then it was straight back to dinner, speeches and a very Italian party.
Twelve hours, four shirts and a lot of film later, this remains exactly the kind of destination wedding I’d happily travel back to Italy to photograph again.
Photographing a Wedding in Puglia, Italy
There’s a particular quality to the light in Puglia that makes it an incredible place to photograph a wedding, especially on film.
During the middle of a summer day the light can be bright, hot and uncompromising, particularly amongst the pale stone and open landscape surrounding the Masserias. But as the afternoon moves into evening, everything changes. The light becomes warmer and softer, the shadows stretch across the olive groves and suddenly there are photographs everywhere.
That contrast is something I love working with. Rather than trying to make every part of the day look the same, I let the photographs change with it — from the heat and strong colour of the afternoon to softer portraits at golden hour, and eventually flash, movement and grain once the party takes over.
Masseria Mozzone gave us all of that within one setting. The olive groves created a beautiful, natural space for Vic and Evan’s ceremony, while the Masseria and surrounding landscape gave us plenty to work with for portraits without needing to disappear from their guests for long.
If I were giving one piece of advice to couples planning a summer wedding in Puglia, it would be to think carefully about the light when planning the timings of the day. You don’t need to structure the wedding around photography, but leaving a little space around golden hour can be worthwhile. Even fifteen minutes in that softer evening light can create something completely different from the photographs made earlier in the afternoon.
Most importantly, embrace where you are. The heat, the food, the music, the olive trees, long tables and late evenings are what give a Puglian wedding its character. I’d much rather photograph all of that as it happens than take you away from it for a photoshoot.
