This post is special to me in two ways:
1. It’s the wedding of one of my oldest friends Matthew, who was my editor when I was a newspaper photographer in Farmington, New Mexico. When Matthew first got the job, he brought his California cool, his deep knowledge of indie music and love of classic cocktails. He was impossible not to like instantly. Matthew stayed at the newspaper less than a year before going back to law school, but those few months in northwest New Mexico cemented many friendships among those of us who called that strange, fascinating high desert town our home.
Last Fall, Matthew married Mary at the Castle Hill Cider in Keswick, Virginia. But Matthew had spotted Mary long before she even knew he existed. While shopping one day in a Target store in Connecticut he saw a curly-red-haired girl with her mother. He didn’t have the nerve to talk to her on the spot, but overheard her mother saying that Mary was going to be attending law school. He thought to himself, “I bet that will be UConn Law.” It was. And that is where he ended up going to school as well. He saw her around campus, but didn’t really get to know her until the second year when a friend randomly invited them both on a weekend getaway. And just when their relationship really started taking off, law school was ending and they had to take jobs on opposite sides of the country. But that didn’t last very long, and when Matthew moved from California to Washington D.C. to be with Mary, that’s when she knew he was the one. “It was very scary but very exciting,” she told me a couple day ago. “I was really happy and knew this was it.”
Fast forward to last November. Matthew and Mary had hired Aaron Morris to photograph their wedding, so I decided to tag along as his second shooter. Which brings me to the next part of this blog post:
2. The second reason this post is extra meaningful for me is because it was the last wedding Aaron photographed with Chrisman Studios. Aaron started with us when he was just 21 years old. In the last seven years, we’ve grown up with Aaron and watched as he matured from a quiet, shy kid who had never eaten Thai food to a seasoned world traveler (he photographed three weddings in Greece before he was 25 years old) and one of the most hardworking and talented photographers in the world. There are just so many memories with Aaron. He basically lived with us the first year he worked with us. The very first wedding we ever took him with us on was in Key Biscayne, Florida, where the Rolling Stones’ Keith Richards was a guest and Aaron tried octopus ceviche for the first time. Erin and I were his photographers when he married Sheela in his parents’ backyard in Pollock Pines, CA. And he was our photographer when we got married in Las Vegas and then two weeks later in Mexico. Basically every major part of our lives for the last several years Aaron has been a big part of. So when Aaron decided he wanted to start his own business, it was a tough thing for me to hear. I never wanted to imagine a business without my photographer brother. I cried right there in front of him, but if there is anyone who understands a need to do it your own way, it’s me. And so having the chance to photograph Aaron’s last Chrisman Studios wedding alongside him and also have it be the groom who was there when I was first learning photography made it the best ending I could have asked for.
Sheela recently got promoted to a job in Manhattan, so she and Aaron just moved from California to an apartment in Brooklyn overlooking the New York City skyline. Their new adventures together are going to be limitless. Just like Aaron’s talent. Just like his drive. Just like our love for him and all he’s given us the last seven years. You’re always going to be a part of our family Aaron. See you in New York next month.
To see Aaron’s incredible work, go here: http://www.aaronmorrisstudios.com/