Poignant moments affect those who snap the photos
Friday, January 26, 2001 | byJOSHUA BRANDT
Wedding photography is all about capturing that pivotal moment—fleeting glimpses of elation, honesty, tenderness or even melancholy that will tell a story for years to come.
For Berkeley photographer Andrew Partos, that moment occurred several years ago, while he was shooting a wedding on board a cruise ship. All of the assembled guests, having already quaffed several glasses of champagne, were gathered to hear the final toast by the groom before he took his wedding vows.
The groom cleared his throat and prepared to read from a speech. At that very moment, a seagull flew overhead and deposited the contents of a recent meal on the groom's head. Partos recalled that there were several minutes of stunned silence, until the groom said that everything was going "exactly according to plan."
Partos was a couple seconds late clicking the shutter, so he was unable to record that timeless moment.
"I'm not sure that they would've liked to have that moment preserved anyway," he said.
The East Bay photographer, a Hungarian Jew who immigrated to Australia with his family after World War II, has been shooting professionally for nearly 30 years. Partos estimated that nearly half of the weddings he shoots are Jewish.
"Being familiar with all the traditions is really pleasing," he said. "I feel like I'm with my people, and it's something I can relate to very easily."
The universality of the wedding drama has always been one of the main perks of being a photographer, according to Partos.
"Weddings are great for anthropologists and sociologists. They have the same scene over and over again, but with different players and with different lines. It's really intriguing to see how the actors play their roles. Some really marvelous theater can occur."
In fact, Redwood City's Joyce Goldschmid's favorite moment as a wedding photographer went beyond mere drama—it contained an actual standing ovation.
The Canadian-born Goldschmid, who converted to Judaism in her teenage years, said that the majority of weddings she shoots are Jewish—for good reason.
"I think every culture contains beautiful traditions, but I'm much more familiar with the nuances of Jewish weddings, and I love the feeling I get being at one. There's a comfort level there, which makes me feel like an insider, as opposed to an outsider looking in."
Goldschmid's poignant memory of recent vintage happened just two months ago. Two women were pledging their commitment to each other in a ceremony performed by Rabbi Janet Marder of Reform Congregation Beth Am in Los Altos Hills and Rabbi Nathaniel Ezray of Conservative Temple Beth Jacob in Redwood City.
After the two women exchanged their vows, they thanked the people responsible for bringing them together. And when they thanked Ezray, the entire crowd of 200 sprang to its feet and gave him a standing ovation.
"I got goose bumps," recalled Goldschmid. "Actually, I was almost too misty-eyed to shoot the picture. It was such a touching moment.
"The two women were giving a rabbi from the Conservative movement a deeply felt thank-you for blessing their commitment. I don't think there was a dry eye in the house."
Misty-eyed moments are de rigueur for wedding photographers, according to San Francisco's Larry Rosenberg.
Rosenberg, who grew up in a Conservative household in New York, said that roughly a third of the weddings he shoots are Jewish.
"There's a great sense of continuity in this business," said Rosenberg. "I've shot kids' b'nai mitzvah, and then shot their weddings 15 years later. So, in a sense, I've become a real part of many people's families. It's a very beautiful cycle."
Rosenberg recently encountered another touching cycle, when a couple he shot walked down the aisle to the exact same song he and his wife had walked down the aisle to, 16 years before.
"The song was 'Wind Theme,' from the movie 'Local Hero,'" said Rosenberg. "I was just stunned that this couple had selected the same song, because I hardly ever hear it."
After blinking back tears, Rosenberg was able to complete the shoot. But the minute the wedding was over, Rosenberg rushed home to a date with his wife.
"I just put the song on the CD player, and we danced and cried all night long."
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