Steve McNiven

As a child, I’d spend hours poring over National Geographic magazines, fascinated by the photographs and wondering how they were made. I’d look for the smallest clues, even the reflections in someone’s eyes, to work out how the photographer had used the light.

More than 20 years into my professional career, that curiosity is still with me. I’m always learning, but experience has taught me that understanding people matters just as much as understanding the camera. Knowing when to wait, when to move, when to make someone laugh and when to quietly let a moment unfold makes all the difference.

Whether I’m photographing a wedding, a bar or bat mitzvah, or an 80th birthday, it’s the connections between people that draw my attention. The proud glance, the unexpected laugh, the hug that lasts a little longer. My aim is to capture those moments so that, years from now, your photographs bring back how it felt to be there.

Steve