New York City is a big place and, as my second photographer Evie noted, from looking at the outside of a building you can’t often tell what amazing things you’ll find on the inside. This is certainly true of the Angel Orensanz Foundation, which is on a narrow street on the Lower East Side. From the outside it blends in with most of the other old brick buildings. But on the inside it’s fairly awe-inspiring.
The same could be said of Brooke and Ryan. We had not met prior to their wedding day, living on opposite coasts. But what a pleasure they were to work with–affable and full of laughter, easy-going but organized. And what a beautiful day it was.
We started in Bryant Park, photographing their family and wedding party. We weren’t 5 minutes into portraits when a police officer comes up and asks Evie, “Do you have a permit?” Evie caught on pretty quick, and started talking with the officer, and I started shooting as quickly as I could. In the end, she distracted him well enough that he wandered off and let us photograph unhindered. And the light–and people–were wonderful.
At the Orensanz building–formerly a Jewish synagogue–we were at first struck by how dingy it felt. But as time went on we discovered that it wasn’t funky, it was full of texture. And light. They have a professional lighting technician working there, and every part of this old building interior is given added atmosphere with beautiful lighting, which changed as the use of the space transitioned throughout the evening.
