Mile Vidic got to the world of wedding photography when the crisis started to shake its professionals and forced them to look for alternatives. Without renouncing to photojournalism and telling stories, he plunged into the world of wedding photography some four years ago. His pictures have appeared in the best specialized webs in the whole of Spain. They are many the couples in Fuerteventura that only want Mile to take a photograph of their “I do” nowadays.

“Photojournalism in wedding photographs has helped me to know where the news is”

By Eloy Vera

How did you manage to attain a position among the top 20 photographers in Spain?
Contests began a couple of years ago out of motivation, so my work could be appreciated and, of course, with the intention of learning and improving.
I remember I also did it to correct mistakes. In the end, it was all about just making a better photography. The photographers you meet there are very good and have a great experience in wedding photography, and all I wanted was to learn. At the beginning I couldn’t think I would reach the position I have nowadays. There’re many wedding directories. I try to be among the most commanding ones. I take part in two of them in Spain: in “Fotógrafos de boda en España” I’m in the 16th position, and in “Ciencia en blanco”, 100% documentary photography, in the 22nd position.

Why did you decide to specialise in wedding photography?
The niche of market in the media was difficult and one has to make a living. I also used to make wedding videos and then I started to take wedding pictures, which seemed to succeed. I kept on making more of them and I started to become interested, most of all, in the new photography style. We are used to the traditional photographer who worked with a lot of posing, antique and classical photography, but this has changed now, this is documentary wedding photography.

There was a time when the wedding photographer was badly considered by the sector itself…
Exactly. We were a bit frowned on in our sector. It seems that as you are a wedding photographer you can’t do another thing. I think this has changed and it’s now being considered as art. I feel that my work is being appreciated and respected. Before we had to do what the customers wanted. Now there is a high percentage of what the customer wants but a great percentage of photography that I want to make, and customers appreciate it and they look for your style. This is extremely important!

What’s been the strangest thing you’ve been asked to do by a couple?
We’ve done crazy things like climbing the Zarza, the elephant in Las Peñitas, a very complicated area. There you find a huge rock where I’ve taken valuable pictures that have been awarded.

Intrusion doesn’t escape this profession either, does it?
We make up a trade where there’s a professional for every ten intruders. There’re plenty of illegal photographers who don’t pay taxes. I’ve always tried to dignify this trade and this is hard to do not just because the illegal practice is brutal but also because we have to lower our prices a lot.

How has photojournalism helped you with wedding photography?
It’s been an advantage as it helps you to know where the news is. When a press conference takes place, or you go to a dinghy, you don’t just go there and start taking pictures aimlessly. I’ve been devoted to photojournalism, video… all my life. This can be transferred to the world of weddings, and what you do is to look for the little news in the wedding.

What are the most important moments to narrate the story of that which happens that day?
The difference lies between a good photographer, who will tell the story of what happens that day, and the typical photographer who is there just to take photos. I usually ask the couples to send me the five best pictures of their report, the ones they like best, and you almost always find the hugs by the mother or father…. Not the rings, the kiss or the launching of the bouquet. These typical things aren’t there.

The Landscape in Fuerteventura is an important ally in your photography…
Of course. One of the most important moments for me is the day after the wedding. I work documentary on the wedding day, but it’s the day after the wedding that Fuerteventura plays an important role: the dunes, the beaches, La Peñitas… representative places in the island we drive past very often without taking notice of the show we have in front of our eyes. It’s been complementary when it’s come to take any kind of landscape photography. I’ve always gone for the couple’s naturality, making them laugh and interact and, at the same time, mixing them with Fuerteventura’s landscape without making them seem less relevant inside the picture.

In which projects are you working now?
My mind is busy with personal matters, projects related to social photography and stories of people in Fuerteventura. I keep trying to learn and I’m 100% in the studio I have in Gran Tarajal.