Ian Bursill shot his first weddings as favours for friends and family back in the days of film in the early '80s. A young teenager, he was a keen enthusiast heavily influenced by his father's books on Cartier-Bresson, McCullin, Erwitt & Capa. He became his school's resident photojournalist, carrying his Russian Zorki 4 Rangefinder Camera with him everywhere. Developing his own work in the darkroom that his dad set up in a spare bedroom, he became quickly hooked on capturing & creating his own black & white images.
After leaving school and several unsuccessful attempts at getting an apprenticeship with local photographic studios, Ian settled for several run-of-the-mill jobs before eventually finding himself employed as a reprographic artist & artworker in the print industry, which is where he learned his skills in Photoshop. He then joined a well-known Leicestershire advertising agency as Head of Creative Services and eventually joined the board as Production Director. Ian kept up with his love of taking pictures by shooting the agency's packshot studio work for print and advertising and by covering location PR shoots for clients. Asked by a fellow Director to shoot his wedding, Ian accepted and hasn't looked back since.
In 2008, Ian joined international organisation The WPJA (Wedding Photojournalist Association) and in only his second year as a member, won the title of "UK Wedding Photojournalist for 2009". In doing so, Ian also became the first UK member of the WPJA to finish in the top three of their international competition.
His most recent award was in 2012 when he won the East Midlands region category for "Best Photographer" in the UK Wedding Industry Awards and became a national finalist. He is also a member of the ISPWP (International Society of Professional Wedding Photographers) and is a founder member of PjURE - a collective of some of the UK's finest purist documentary wedding photographers.
He shoots weddings in a pure documentary style with no intervention or direction given at all, apart from a few group formals if requested and 10 minutes worth of lightly directed portraits of the Bride & Groom. This enables his clients and their guests to get on enjoy their day without worrying about the photography taking over and results in a narrative of natural, emotive and timeless images.
by Ian Bursill
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