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Two Spoons Photography
By Elise Patterson
Weddings in America are events steeped in long held traditions. Carly Romeo learned this firsthand when she and her partner asked photographers to capture their “wedding-esque celebration of love.” While researching her options, Romeo was “inundated with language focusing almost exclusively on The Bride (™) and what The Bride (™) wants/needs/should look like in order to properly execute The Best Day of Her Life (™).” With all this focus on brides, Romeo was left wondering where love fits in traditional wedding photography.
A UVa alumna with a degree in “Studies of Women and Gender,” Romeo has always had an interest in photography, “but was hesitant to do it professionally because I told myself I'd never be as good as X or Y photographer.” While living in New York and working in Gloria Steinem’s office, Romeo told Steinem about wanting to be a photographer but feeling ill-equipped. Steinem advised her to simply ‘start doing it!’ So Romeo began renting equipment and practicing.
Weddings in America are events steeped in long held traditions. Carly Romeo learned this firsthand when she and her partner asked photographers to capture their “wedding-esque celebration of love.” While researching her options, Romeo was “inundated with language focusing almost exclusively on The Bride (™) and what The Bride (™) wants/needs/should look like in order to properly execute The Best Day of Her Life (™).” With all this focus on brides, Romeo was left wondering where love fits in traditional wedding photography.
A UVa alumna with a degree in “Studies of Women and Gender,” Romeo has always had an interest in photography, “but was hesitant to do it professionally because I told myself I'd never be as good as X or Y photographer.” While living in New York and working in Gloria Steinem’s office, Romeo told Steinem about wanting to be a photographer but feeling ill-equipped. Steinem advised her to simply ‘start doing it!’ So Romeo began renting equipment and practicing.
When Romeo returned to Virginia, she saw just how bride-obsessed area photographers can be, and Steinem’s advice and Romeo’s practice came to fruition in the form of Two Spoons Photography. With Two Spoons Photography, Romeo approaches her subjects with a feminist mindset: “To me, being a feminist is about questioning how we're taught to look at and experience the world - and breaking down artificial, gender-based barriers. In photography, that means thinking outside the gender dichotomy boxes,” she says.
Her resulting photos are stunning, captivating testaments to the love her clients share. And Romeo’s pictures aren’t just a catalog of the romantic love her clients share, but rather encompass the love weddings are supposed to celebrate, from a father’s love for his daughter, to a mother-in-law’s love for her son-in-law, from love between aunts and uncles and cousins, grandparents and nieces and nephews, to best friends.
In fact, providing the visual documentations is what Romeo finds most rewarding about photographing weddings: “As cheesy as it sounds, my favorite part is seeing all the love. In the past, I'd been a little lukewarm on weddings, but now every time I capture one I'm touched by the sweetness and wonder of each couple's relationship. It's very uplifting.”
Uplifting is a perfect description for Romeo’s photos. Though Romeo has been photographing professionally for eighteen months, she is entering her first official wedding season this year. If you or someone you love has been on the lookout for a photographer (she doesn’t just do weddings!) Carly Romeo and Two Spoons Photography may be just what you need.
Her resulting photos are stunning, captivating testaments to the love her clients share. And Romeo’s pictures aren’t just a catalog of the romantic love her clients share, but rather encompass the love weddings are supposed to celebrate, from a father’s love for his daughter, to a mother-in-law’s love for her son-in-law, from love between aunts and uncles and cousins, grandparents and nieces and nephews, to best friends.
In fact, providing the visual documentations is what Romeo finds most rewarding about photographing weddings: “As cheesy as it sounds, my favorite part is seeing all the love. In the past, I'd been a little lukewarm on weddings, but now every time I capture one I'm touched by the sweetness and wonder of each couple's relationship. It's very uplifting.”
Uplifting is a perfect description for Romeo’s photos. Though Romeo has been photographing professionally for eighteen months, she is entering her first official wedding season this year. If you or someone you love has been on the lookout for a photographer (she doesn’t just do weddings!) Carly Romeo and Two Spoons Photography may be just what you need.
