SWPP Annual Bash

The year always starts for us with the annual convention of the Society of Wedding and Portrait Photographers held in London. The SWPP is one of the leading trade organizations, and this year almost 5000 people attended the three days of seminars plus a trade show and numerous parties, culminating in the presentation of the annual awards at a gala dinner.

It might sound odd but for me the seminars are the highlight of the event, every year we see presentations from the top photographers from around the world which leave me full of inspiration for the year ahead. This year’s highlights for me were David A. Williams and Jerry Ghionis who, along with Yervant and Martin and son Ryan Schembri (who were also there), are the top five in the world. Their styles are very different but they have one thing in common – they are all Australian! It’s not necessarily the first country you’d think of when it comes to leading artists, but for the last few years the Aussies have led the world. It’s no coincidence that the leading album companies are also Australian, which is why we now exclusively supply Jorgensen Albums from down under.

The awards dinner on Sunday night was the usual star-studded affair. The standard was incredibly high and it’s great to see that there are so many great photographers all turning out unique work in the UK and abroad. Sadly we came away empty-handed – although that might have something to do with the fact that I didn’t have time to prepare anything! There’s always next year!