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American Photo: The Top 10 Wedding Photographers of 2011

What was once a conventional practice is now an art of creativity, adventure and individualism

Jesse and Whitney Chamberlin
Our Labor of Love
Atlanta, GA
ourlaboroflove.com


Jesse used a 45mm tilt-shift lens to grab this evocative picture while the couple waited in a parking lot.

The founders of Our Labor of Love have complementary strengths. “I’ll make them laugh a little bit,” says Whitney Chamberlin, “while Jesse will make them smile.” The Chamberlins share a dedication to capturing the personalities of a couple as they unfold throughout their wedding day. As Jesse explains it, they strive to “give them a body of work that is a constant reminder of who they are, no matter how times may change.” The Chamberlins long ago dispensed with the typical routine of taking a group photo at each table of reception guests. Rather, they invented an unmanned photo booth system called the Smilebooth. It serves as a miniature studio where guests can spend as much or as little time as they like taking pictures together, using a wireless release to trip the shutter. “It gives us moments that you never would be able to get if a photographer were part of the equation,” Jesse says. Equally leery of the conventional when behind the camera, the Chamberlins have an inventive style that draws inspiration from outside the traditional domain of wedding photography. As Jesse explains, “We want to create something that’s seen as a piece of art, not necessarily as a wedding portrait.”


“I shot this through a plant to give the image a dated, filmlike effect,” Jesse says.