Darren Lehane

Bristol Wedding Photographer Captures Candid and Genuine Moments

It started with my grandmother.  I was only a toddler at the time and she was a keen amateur snapper.  Whenever I used to visit I was fascinated by her volumes of photo albums - usually of her trips abroad.  She would even let me play with her Kodak Instamatic camera.  Of course, there was no film it but I was convinced they would have been the greatest photos ever of her sofa, ornaments and roses.  Yes, that's where it started, my fascination with photography.

By my teens I wanted to be a pop star in a synth pop band - I even bought my own synthesiser.  I soon realised I couldn't play a tune or hit a note.  My music career was over before it had even started.  However, I had fallen in love with the music photography of Anton Corbijn.  So I decided being a photographer was nearly as rock 'n' roll.  And I could definitely work a camera much better than a synthesiser.

Through trial and error I fell in love with candid street photography through the likes of Garry Winogrand, Tony Ray-Jones, Robert Frank, Joel Meyerowitz, Jeff Mermelstein and Martin Parr.  I seemed to be quite good at it, winning multiple awards, exhibited widely and often published.

Then one day in 2012 a couple I knew getting married said they loved my candid street photography style...could I shoot their wedding in a similar way.  I hummed and ahhed and eventually said yes (of course I did!).  And the rest is history - I've been shooting weddings ever since in my unique candid street aesthetic.

I try and keep the number of weddings I shoot per year to a manageable number - in the region of about 15.  Having left London for the South West (near Bristol) I am now relaunching my business here, though still shoot weddings across the whole of the UK and beyond (furthest so far is Finland).

Outside of photography my interests are music, football (I'm a long suffering West Ham fan - don't let that put you off!) and movies.

So that's me.  And where the bio finishes.  But not the weddings.  So lets continue that story with your wedding next.