Polly Alexandre Photography

Fine Wedding & Portrait Photography

Looking Back and Looking Forward

Sri Lanka Beach

{Image of an unspoilt beach on the west coast of Sri Lanka: I kind of like the blank canvas feel of this image….it feels like a starting the year kind of metaphor….}

So new year ends and a new one begins….and it’s a natural point of renewal and reflection. I don’t make new years resolutions as such, but take the opportunity to reflect back over the past year and acknowledge my successes and personal achievements. It can be so easy to always look forward, I believe that to acknowledge and celebrate your past and successes is as important as it is to make plans. Like the act of photographing, it is sometimes only through freezing a moment in time that we are fully able to feel it. To reflect upon it, to acknowledge and appreciate it.

2012 was in many ways a challenging year for me, as I know it was for lots of others (apparently it’s all in the stars according to astrology experts…) but it wasn’t without it’s joys and successes and new discoveries. Oh – and travel of course. Lots of travel. Besides shuttling between the UK & Ibiza throughout the year, I also visited California – Joshua Tree, the Big Sur, Palm Springs, LA; Valencia, Formentera, Paris, the South of France, Sri Lanka and finally on the last day of the year, India. Some of it was pleasure but most of it was work, and all the more exciting for it. It’s going to be a tour around the world on the blog this Spring.

We sold one home in London, and bought another, and in the process signed up to a whole new lifestyle….a whole ton of decluttering, simplifying and streamlining how we live. The Man & I did our first full renovation together (I chose the flat, he designed, he project managed, and I furnished/styled). The flat is almost finished and it looks beautiful & is becoming a source of pride and joy rather than stresses and workmen… ;-). Not context with designing and creating one kitchen in a year, we went on to do a second just before Christmas. Like all good building projects it ran a teensy bit behind and consequently Christmas dinner only just came together in a half finished kitchen. Definitely a learning experience (not a lesson I wish to repeat in 2013!).

I discovered Paleo, and found it in a way of eating that is delicious, sustainable, and effective. Out went the rice, pasta, bread, sugar…. in came tons of fresh fish, chicken, coconut products and vegetables. And pancakes: lots of pancakes (I am the unofficial Paleo Pancake Queen). When eating out I still eat what I want, but even that has subtly changed…and I no longer need lots of carbs to feel full (note to brides dieting for the big day: this is like a non-diet diet and it works!). I trained intensely for the wedding day with a personal trainer (it was worth it brides-to-be!) and in the autumn I started Pilates. I miss my beloved yoga classes in London, and have yet to find a good teacher in Ibiza anywhere near where I live but I hold out hope. I converted a bathroom to a darkroom (which currently sits somewhere between the two but functions as neither…!) and saw my gorgeous bulldog’s health go from strength to strength after a rocky first year, assisted by our amazing housesitter/petsitter Lorraine. Lorraine, along with my assistants, and our cleaners brings some order to our crazy, at times, hectic lives, and I am so grateful to them all for their help & support.

Probably the most significant achievement of all was our wedding, and hopefully in years to come our marriage will also rate as one of our greatest successes. Like all good things it will take hard work, patience and effort, but the love is the greatest thing of all and to celebrate and honour love is right at the heart of what I do.

Things I am loving this month:

1. This amazing house (tipped off by the Reverie girls). Apparently it’s one of my husband’s favourite houses ever. And also apparently you can stay in it. Um, yes please!

2. Fiona Rae’s new exhibition at the Timothy Taylor Gallery in London… the gallery very kindly allowed me to sneak in whilst they were hanging the exhibition and I was blown away…utterly magical, vital and expressive.

3. Julia Hetta’s amazing fashion & portrait photography…elegant, still, refined and so beautifully constructed.

4. Being back at work! Woo hoo! I love what I do and believe it or not I sometimes miss it when I am away….it feels great to be back and I am so excited about all of the weddings I will be photographing this year….and the ones I have yet to share that I photographed over the past year. Here’s to sharing the love!

Wishing you all a very Happy New Year. May 2013 be a magical and happy year filled with your own successes, joy and love xx

Sarah & Oli – Wedding Photography at Claridges Hotel, London

Oh my. What a utterly stylish and wonderful wedding this was….To be the photographer for a wedding at Claridges is always lovely, but I especially love working for creative clients like this bride. Shortly before her wedding, Sarah had just taken the plunge and left her job as a magazine designer to start up her own stationary company, Brown Paper Design, with her close friend & cousin Juliette, so she brought that creative talent and eye for beauty to the styling of her wedding day. But this was a day that was not just beautiful to the eye, but also beautiful for the warmth and joy of sharing it with their families, to whom the couple are very close. In the Jewish faith, family is very important and Sarah planned the wedding closely with her parents, especially her mother, who herself has a great eye and interest in art and design.

Sarah met Oli as a friend of her brother, and then friendship blossomed into romance over time and it became obvious the couple were the perfect match. On the wedding day we started at Sarah’s parents home where her mum so sweetly covered the outside of their home with little teddy bears wearing customised ribbon neckties. Sarah’s father accompanied her to the synagogue in her uncle’s beautiful vintage car, and in Jewish tradition he walked her down the aisle to the huppah, decorated in white roses. I love shooting Jewish weddings for their sense of celebration and joy in the ceremony itself, not the mention the vigorous dancing…and all before you’ve even sat down to eat. Sarah & Oli’s friends ensured this was particularly lively! (I think the grooms friends were mainly responsible for the wild celebratory chaos at this point & definitely for the hoisting up on the couple on chairs in the air, despite the bride’s reservations!). Sarah designed beautiful notecard sets as favour/placenames, with each guest’s name printed at the top. She also made gorgeous escort cards in a chic grey stripe and the most beautiful gold foil embossed invitations. I highly recommend checking out her new website.

Sarah loved both the grainy black and white look of my documentary work and the soft palette of my colour photography so I combined the two by capturing the details and portraits in natural light in colour film, and the evening’s events in my trademark grainy black and white film. My goal was to create a portrait of the wedding that was at once elegant, natural and beautiful.

Wishing Mr & Mr S both many sweet years together, and perhaps even a lovely family of their own one day…..

Ceremony Venue: Western Marble Arch Synagogue.  Reception Venue & Catering: Claridges Hotel, London. Bride’s Dress: Peter Langner from Browns Bride. Bride’s Shoes: Rupert Sanderson. Jewellery: Tiffany. Hair & Make Up: Daniel Galvin. Bridesmaid’s Dress: Gucci. Grooms Suit: Nick Tentis. Stationary by the Bride’s Company, Brown Paper Design Flowers: Paul Thomas Cake: Peggy Porschen. Super 8 Film: Mariage a la Mode. Wedding Cars: Sarah’s Uncle.

Thank you to Kate Rossin from Depict for some second shooting (not shown here)

 

Emma & Lee – Wedding Photography at Paissa den Bernat, Ibiza

Emma and Lee fell in love…… and fell in love with the idea of marrying in Ibiza. They just knew it was meant to be on both counts.

So as an interior designer Emma was perfectly placed to channel her creative energies into creating a stylish coordinated navy and cream style to their wedding, and the beautiful stationary she designed herself, the pretty table plan hanging in the trees and the  . Ibiza is a magical place to get married, and I love photographing weddings there. It’s not just the sunshine, the beaches, the bright beautiful flowers against the turquoise of a cool swimming pool…. it;s more than that, the place itself has a wonderful energy. I always find within 24 hours of arriving on the island everything before has melted away and I feel incredibly relaxed and peaceful.

The church of San Agustin doesn’t host many weddings and it was new to me too. In fact it’s actually not an easy place to get married in and it took a special letter from the couple to persuade the vicar to allow them to marry there. They had their hearts set on this tiny atmospheric decorated Catholic church and were determined to make it where they became husband and wife.

After a heartfelt ceremony which culminated in huge grins as they came down the aisle, it was confetti and hopping into a vintage Mercedes for a drive to the clifftop overlooking the big blue sea. The reception was held at Paissa den Bernat, a beautiful villa in San Jose, where Vicky and her team at Eat Ibiza laid on a delicious Mediterranean feast. ‘Eat, Drink & be Merry’ as the couple had written on their handmade menus. Then it was drinking and dancing into the the wee small hours under the stars.

Here’s a little taste of their day. Much love for a long and happy life together Mr & Mrs M!

Ceremony Venue: San Agustin Church, Ibiza. Reception Venue: Paissa den Bernat, San Jose, Ibiza. Dress by Jenny Packham, Catering by Eat Ibiza, Hair & Make Up by Bellimissma Ibiza; Cake designed by the Bride & made by Eat Ibiza.