Documentary Wedding Photographers & Filmmakers
YORK PLACE STUDIOS
From weddings to family life, events and beyond, we are documentary photographers and videographers celebrating the unscheduled beats and seemingly insignificant moments that tell the real stories of life through the lens.
"Two of the best wedding photographers in the world"
We are a close family team of UK photographers and videographers, capturing weddings and events with a documentary approach and a street photographer's eye.
Remember your wedding the way it felt
Watch to get a feel for the way we think about weddings
A Different Way of Seeing
Our documentary approach is rooted in the philosophy set out in our book, “Is This Something?”. Instead of directing your day, we immerse ourselves in the atmosphere, seeking out the unscripted energy and the character-driven moments that truly define how your wedding felt.
Why Choose Documentary Style?What we do - The Art of the Unscripted
01. We Celebrate the Unscripted
We value the spontaneous and the beautifully imperfect. We believe that real memories are far more powerful than staged ones and move our feet – not yours – to capture them.
02. We Make You Look Amazing
Documentary doesn’t mean sacrificing beauty. We bring a portrait-level attention to detail to every candid moment, ensuring you look incredible without ever being staged.
03. We Document the Chemistry
Our focus is on the connections between people – the laughter, the quiet glances, and the energy of the room. We capture the people you love and the relationships you share exactly as they are.
04. We Seek the Character
We look for the quirks, the “is this something?” moments, and the unique details that make your wedding yours. We don’t follow a Pinterest template; we follow the real story.
05. We Capture it First Time
You won’t have to tie your tie a dozen times or freeze mid-action. We have the instinct and experience to capture the moment perfectly the first time it happens, without staged “re-do’s”.
06. We Keep You With Your People
We love capturing the day entirely unposed, so having portraits and groups is entirely your choice. If you do want some formal shots we keep it brief and relaxed so you can get straight back to your guests.
"They are engaged and focused on the people and the place and document the real day, the real people, the love, the laughter and the nonsense which surrounds weddings and all they entail with their own outstanding take on documentary photography. It is this expertise which makes them such astoundingly great photographers - conveying the very essence of our wedding day in film with real heart, talent and conviction. Book them today!"
- JOAN & STEPHEN, YORKSHIRE WEDDING
Now booking for 2026 & 2027
Wedding Photography
Renowned brother and sister documentary wedding photography duo Liam and Dominique Shaw capture the unexpected, spontaneous occurrences of a wedding between the scheduled events to capture the true life, community, personality and humour of a wedding day. Nothing posed, nothing staged, just real, raw, documentary moments captured with a creative twist.
Wedding Videography
Creative documentary wedding videographers Alex Shaw & Matt Thompson never pose the action and are allergic to cliché. Filming documentary style, they capture not just the bride and groom but the whole story of a wedding day, celebrating friendship, family and fun.
Family Photography
Forget perfect.
Family life isn't neat and tidy. Everyone doesn't always look prim and proper, you don't always stand in a line smiling sweetly. Family life is playful, it's disorganised; it's about laughing from your gut and seeing magic in the mundane. Family life isn't perfect. It's so much more than that. Capture the memory, not the fairytale.
Family life isn't neat and tidy. Everyone doesn't always look prim and proper, you don't always stand in a line smiling sweetly. Family life is playful, it's disorganised; it's about laughing from your gut and seeing magic in the mundane. Family life isn't perfect. It's so much more than that. Capture the memory, not the fairytale.
Event Videography
With vast expertise in both visuals and sound, the team at York Place Films look to capture not just the headline events but the feel and atmosphere of the occasion, placing the viewer right at the heart of the action.
Studio Photography
We believe that portraits should be more than just a pretty picture, they should be an explosion of personality. Our colourful, characterful headshot portraiture aims to bring real life to your walls.
STAY IN THE MOMENT
TO A LOT OF PEOPLE, WHEN THEY THINK 'DOCUMENTARY WEDDING PHOTOGRAPHY', THEY THINK "YORK PLACE STUDIOS" - THEY REALLY ARE THAT SYNONYMOUS WITH THE CRAFT
- THIS IS REPORTAGE
Documentary Wedding Photography & Film
Two Specialist Teams. One Intuitive Vision.
"Our job is not just to exceed our couple's expectations, it is to exceed their imaginations."
Life doesn't happen while you're smiling sweetly down the lens. It happens when you're lost in the moment, living and feeling every second, forgetting the cameras are even there. By adopting a quiet, observational approach, we protect the atmosphere of your celebration - capturing the in-between "is this something?" moments, the belly laughs, and the fleeting connections that a scripted photoshoot would miss.
To capture these stories with complete authenticity, we work as two specialist teams with one intuitive vision. Liam and Dominique focus exclusively on the art of the still image, while Matt and Alex are dedicated entirely to the craft of documentary filmmaking. Because we are a family team, we move as a single unit - anticipating the same beats and sharing the same silence - ensuring your photography and film are perfectly in sync without ever competing for space or breaking the flow of your day.
We don't believe in splitting our focus. We believe in the mastery of two distinct, world-class crafts, ensuring both your photography and film receive our total creative energy.
Watch the video to see us in action and hear more about our ethos, motivation and candid, unobtrusive approach.
Meet Your Family Photo & Video Team
Three Siblings. One Husband. A Shared Instinct and a Personal Commitment
More About Us
York Place is a family team of four. We don’t use freelancers or strangers; when you book us, you get us, from being the photographers and filmmakers with you on your day, to personally hand-crafting your photographs, films and slideshow after the event.
Liam & Dominique lead our photography, while Matt & Alex lead our cinema. Together, we provide a unified, intuitive documentary experience that protects the atmosphere of your day.
An Internationally Respected Authority on the Art of Documentary Wedding Photography
SPEAKING EVENTS
The York Place team regularly speak and offer workshops at the biggest photography events in the world. Recent appearances include Ireland's "Doc-Day" - one of the world's biggest documentary wedding photography events, "BODAF" in Spain, "Transversal" in France, "Limitless" in Bali and Main stage talks at "The Photography & Video Show" in the UK.
AMBASSADORS
York Place Studios have been asked to be ambassadors for some of the world's leading photography brands, such as Fujifilm, Pic-Time, Digitalab and Narrative select. At York Place we only work with companies who share our values of innovation, creativity, quality and a fantastic customer experience.
AWARDS & PRESS
Whilst we now spend our time judging rather than entering awards, York Place has received numerous prestigious accolades, such as top place in the wedding category of the Rangefinder Awards, Top Fearless Photographer in the UK and multiple documentary wedding photography awards, including from "This Is Reportage", WPPI and WPJA.
BOOKS
Our book "Is This Something?", has been described as "The definitive go-to book for documentary wedding photographers." Selling all over the world, the book aims to celebrate and explain in detail the philosophies, ideas, techniques and principles that, to us, make documentary wedding photography such an incredible art form.
Documentary Weddings: London, UK & Worldwide
See more of our recent weddings in full, all captured documentary style
Whether we are documenting a backyard celebration in Yorkshire or a three-day celebration in the heart of London, our goal remains the same: to exceed your imagination. Browse our recent documentary photography and cinema stories to see how our family team captures the unique character of every location and every couple we meet.
The Art of the Unscripted: Defining the Genre
How do we approach your day both in photo & film?
Nothing Posed, Nothing Staged ....
Documentary wedding photography is often misunderstood as simply "not posing." For us, it is a much deeper, deliberate way of seeing - an obsession with the choreography of chaos and the art found in seemingly insignificant moments.
The Power of the Single Frame
While documentary photography often relies on a sequence of frames, our aim is to ensure every individual image tells a compelling story in its own right. We seek out the "choreography of chaos"—capturing self-contained moments that hold their own power and resonance even when taken entirely out of context.
Seeing Beyond the Obvious
We specialize in seeing beyond the obvious action, finding the magic in unplanned, ambiguous scenes that a standard checklist would miss. While the big milestones are always captured, our focus is on people being people: hunting for the real, raw, and characterful moments that reveal the true soul of your community.
Documentary Wedding Photography? We (literally) wrote the book on it!
"Is This Something?" is our expansive workshop book, all about the art and craft of documentary wedding photography. The book (selling internationally) is a thorough explanation of our concepts and process, told through the course of a wedding day. Find out more on our dedicated publishing and education site:
www.seeminglyinsignificant.com
Popular Wedding Articles
Read more of our thoughts and concepts on the theme of wedding photography and videography.
How Do We Bring Street & Wedding Photography Together?
Our passion for street photography has long influenced our wedding work. Read how techniques learnt photographing cities around the world has changed the way we think about wedding photography.
Wedding Photography & Videography - The Key Similarities & Differences
Our photography & videography works seamlessly side by side, yet some shots work best in film and others in photo. Read more about how these two different mediums converge and diverge to create the ultimate coverage of your day.
What Is Documentary Wedding Photography?
Read our in-depth explanation of what documentary wedding photography is, how documentary photographers tend to work, why a documentary approach might work best for your wedding and what distinguishes one documentary photographer from another.
Documentary Wedding Videography - Capturing Things Naturally, Moment to Moment
Unposed, documentary photography is an established genre, yet documentary wedding videography remains, perhaps surprisingly, a less common style. Read all about how we approach your day and bring scenes to life.
Documentary Vs Reportage Vs Photojournalist - A Glossary of Terms
Unposed photography comes under many titles, but what do they really mean?
Ready to see this in action?
Check out our Documentary Wedding Photography portfolio and approach
Our Documentary ApproachPicture of the week
Each week we highlight a favourite unposed moment from our portfolio - a single frame that captures the heart of documentary photography.
– Wedding,
Middleton Lodge, United Kingdom,
The Weight of Anticipation,
Sometimes, the most compelling stories are told in the quiet reversal of roles within a private suite.
FUJIFILM X-H2S | XF23MM F1.4 R LM WR | 1/320 | F/8 |ISO 3200
– Wedding, Middleton Lodge, United Kingdom,
The Weight of Anticipation,
Sometimes, the most compelling stories are told in the quiet reversal of roles within a private suite.
Kind Words from our Couples
Dom and Liam were utterly amazing for our wedding recently, and we seriously could not recommend them more. The photos were better than we could have possibly expected, and the two of them were just incredible on the day, so friendly, yet unobtrusive, blending in seamlessly to capture the day in true documentary style.
If you are looking for professional photographers that really care about capturing your day as it happens, we can't recommend York Place Studios enough.Everytime we look at the photos we laugh and cry in equal measure. We are taken straight back to the day and the emotions we were feeling.
The easiest and best decision of our wedding was inviting Liam and Dom to spend the day with us documenting our small family celebration. The photographs are incredible and EVERY SINGLE PICTURE tells a unique story of the day, lots of which we would never remember or realise were happening at the time! Liam and Dom were very much a part of our wedding and were welcomed by all the family, who never seemed to realise they were taking so many photographs!
Read more 5 Star reviews on our Client Testimonails Page, or visit our Google Reviews page.
Client TestimonialsSTREET PHOTOGRAPHY
Finding Photographs In Everyday Life
Whether we're shooting street photography, wedding photography, family or even iPhone shots, to us there's no difference. Whatever we document, we shoot with purpose. It's not about genre, it's just photography; it's just how we see the world.
New York
USA
Budapest
HUNGARY
Barcelona
SPAIN
Street photography is our creative laboratory—the place where we experiment with new ideas and sharpen the “Is This Something?” shorthand that defines our vision. By pushing our boundaries in the world's most unpredictable environments, we ensure our documentary instincts remain as sharp and reactive as the cameras we carry.
We don’t believe in industry templates or capturing the same shots week in, week out. Every time we pick up a camera, we want to create something new that excites our couples as much as it excites us. The more we open our eyes to the world, the more creative we can be for you on the day.
WATCH DOMINIQUE SHOOTING STREET PHOTOGRAPHY IN LONDON IN FUJIFILM'S X-E4 LAUNCH COMMERCIAL
Documentary Wedding Photographs recognised in International Street Photography Competition.
Our wedding work has long been influenced by street photography - so much so that two of our documentary wedding photographs were finalists in the world-respected London Street Photography Festival!
NOTHING POSED, NOTHING STAGED
THEY ARE INCREDIBLY PASSIONATE ABOUT SHOOTING WITH A TRUE DOCUMENTARY EYE. NOTHING IS STAGED OR POSED BUT STILL VERY INTENTIONAL AND CRAFTED. THEY OFTEN SHOOT WIDE AND USE LAYERS TO BUILD A SCENE AND RELAY A RICH NARRATIVE WITHIN EACH FRAME
- PROFESSIONAL PHOTO MAGAZINE
Discrete,
Creative,
Immersive.
Your wedding isn’t just a celebration of your relationship. It’s a celebration of who you are and of everybody you love. It’s not about impressing anyone, or who you can pretend to be; it’s about bringing people together, laughing hard, remembering old times and creating memories that none of you will ever forget.
Now booking for 2026 & 2027