Elopements · November 2024

Why I Don't Pose People

The case against direction and what happens when you just let the day unfold.

I get asked about posing a lot. Couples want to know what I'll have them do, how I'll direct them, what positions they should practise. And the honest answer is: not much, and none. I don't pose people because posed people look posed, and posed people in photographs look like they're posing for photographs. Which they are. Which is fine for some kinds of photography — but not for the kind I do.

What I do instead is move with you through the day and pay attention. I'll suggest we go somewhere, or slow down, or stop for a moment. I'll occasionally ask you to do something natural — hold hands, sit down, look at each other. But I'm not placing your hand here and tilting your chin there. The images I'm most proud of are the ones where the two people in them forgot I was there. You can't direct your way to that.

— Michael