Mallory Paige Photography
Solis Collective Feature
There is a lot of trust involved in photographing someone on a day as important as their wedding.
For Mallory Paige, building that trust starts with listening.
“People talk about active listening,” she said. “It really does take energy to listen because you are making yourself emotionally available for someone’s life. Letting someone be vulnerable around you and being someone who can hold that.”
You can see that in the way she approaches the people she photographs.
Her work is fashion-forward, but it still feels really personal.
She gives couples specific directions around posture, body position, facial angles and the way clothing photographs, helping them feel confident while still leaving room for the moments that happen naturally.
With a mother who is a wedding planner, Mallory has been exposed to the wedding industry from an early age.
Her background in hospitality has also shaped the way she thinks about the service she provides. For her, the experience matters just as much as the photographs.
In 2014, while she was in college, Mallory was taking family photos when she heard a photographer mention that she was looking for an assistant for a wedding.
Mallory volunteered, and after that first wedding as a second shooter, she knew she loved it.
She loved the environment, the fast pace and the fact that every wedding is someone's best day. She also loved being the person responsible for capturing and presenting her own perspective of the wedding.
As she continued photographing weddings, she became more aware of how quickly a couple's energy and excitement can change when too much of the day is spent taking photographs.
That became an important part of her philosophy, giving couples their time back.
“Taking photos is the least desirable time of day for most people at the wedding,” she told me.
For Mallory, giving that time back starts with preparation. She scouts locations, gets a sense of the land and assesses the light at different times of day.
“Preparation is how I am able to express my maximum creativity,” she said.
Weddings move quickly, and Mallory believes the day itself is not the time to experiment.
By preparing ahead of time, she can make smart decisions quickly, create the photographs she wants and get her couples back to the rest of their day.
That preparation carries into her editing style, too. Mallory describes her work as current, colorful and chic. She wants her images to remain beautiful and clear for generations.
Now based in both Asheville and Charleston, Mallory is entering a new chapter of her business. Her husband started his medical residency in Charleston last year, bringing her to the city and into its wedding community.
What she loves about Charleston is the diversity among the vendors, designs and venues. There is a wedding here for every kind of bride.
When I asked what kind of couple she feels most connected to, her answer was simple. One who trusts her.
She loves those moments when people can let their walls down and just be human, silly and awkward. “And just be,” she said. “That is rare to find sometimes. Show me your human.”
It’s a simple request, but a meaningful one.
Photographing weddings has also taught Mallory that things don't have to be perfect for them to be really good. Sometimes, the unexpected moments become the photographs people love most.
“If something goes wrong and a bride can laugh it off, that photograph of her laughing may end up being her favorite.”
When I asked what she hopes couples remember when they look back at their photographs ten or twenty years from now, her answer was simple.
“I hope they don’t even remember taking pictures.”
She hopes they remember everything besides the time it took to take the photographs, but instead remember how they felt and what the day was like.
And that might be the best way to understand Mallory’s approach. Beautiful photographs, of course, but an experience that never takes away from the reason everyone gathered in the first place.
Instagram - @mallorypaigephotography_
Website - https://themallorypaige.com/