These are photos of my brother Chris and his soon-to-be wife Monnie. After growing up with 4 younger brothers, I must say that I’m excited to FINALLY get a sister on this side of the family!
Monnie is a human piece of art. I don’t know anyone like Monnie. My brother is a brilliant, giant teddy bear who loves video games and technology but at his core is an artist too. And they found each other. I firmly stand by my belief that there is a person for every person in this world. Monnie is Chris’s person. Chris is Monnie’s person. Not everyone can understand them or see the beauty, but that’s ok. That’s the thing about art. Art is not made for EVERYONE.
It was an honor to get to photograph them, but I was a bit nervous because I’m out of practice (I haven’t done a real engagement shoot in years) and I wanted to really capture the essence of who they are. Creative. Serious. Goofy. Goth. Punk rock. Loving. Dog parents. I was also nervous because despite being beautiful people on the outside and the inside… neither of them really like getting their picture taken. Knowing this about them ahead of time, I asked what their insecurities were so I could try to be aware of them and minimize them. After listening to Monnie’s long list of insecurities about her body, I asked if she would prefer that I simply take a photo of her aura and not have her body in the images at all. Ha. Good thing I love a challenge. They wanted to do the photos at sunset on my parent’s property. But how do you make sunsets and corn fields look punk rock? How do you not make it too cheesy? I tried my best. And I think I might have caught their aura in that last photo.
I love you both and can’t wait to watch you get married next weekend. Cif, you found a good one. Welcome to the family Monnie!
Even though this was Chris and Monnie’s engagement session, it was a family affair… just like the wedding will be! Go Go (my dad) and Vinny (my daughter) were our “supervisors” on the shoot. Stealing our golf cart multiple times before they moved on to a motorcycle. Please note: I do NOT endorse riding motorcycles with babies under 2 years old without helmets on… but Go Go does. And I figured that I made it out alive from my childhood… so maybe now and then it’s ok to just let it go and accept a small risk in the name of fun. Then again… I think it was my mother who really kept us all alive. Ha
Regardless, my dad taught me to take risks and face my fears and I hope he teaches my daughter the same thing. It looks like she’s well on her way.
