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The Brutal Truth About Wedding Photography: Gigi de Manio, EO81 · The MOOD Podcast

• 0:00
  Matt Jacob: Welcome to the Mood Podcast.
• 0:01
  Matt Jacob: I'm covering the art of conversation one frame at a time.
• 0:05
  Matt Jacob: I'm your host, matt Jacob, and thank you for joining me in today's conversation.
• 0:09
  Matt Jacob: In this episode, I'm joined by Gigi DiManeo, a photographer celebrated for her unparalleled ability to capture the essence of weddings and family moments.
• 0:18
  Matt Jacob: From her beginnings as a psychology major, discovering photography in a dark room, to becoming a master of the decisive moment, gigi has honed a career that fuses artistry with human connection.
• 0:29
  Matt Jacob: She approaches each wedding with fresh eyes, treating it as a unique story, and brings a thoughtful, almost poetic attention to detail that elevates her work beyond mere documentation.
• 0:40
  Matt Jacob: We discuss her unexpected entry into photography and the transformative power of capturing moments that tell stories.
• 0:46
  Matt Jacob: Gigi shares insights on finding beauty in chaos, navigating the challenges of wedding photography and how her background in psychology informs her empathetic approach.
• 0:55
  Matt Jacob: We also explore deeper themes, like the art of quiet observation, balancing creativity with client expectations and the philosophies that guide her process.
• 1:04
  Matt Jacob: So now I bring you Gigi DiManeo.
• 1:07
  Matt Jacob: Well, thank you so much for A being patient, but joining me today.
• 1:23
  Gigi de Manio: Your work is stunning.
• 1:25
  Gigi de Manio: Oh my God, god, I just got lost in your images.
• 1:28
  Gigi de Manio: I I am so blown away by your work, truly oh, that's, and um so much you know I'm.
• 1:34
  Gigi de Manio: I don't know if I should start now, but I just wanted to say that.
• 1:38
  Gigi de Manio: Um, yeah, I'm a wedding photographer, but your, your work is so moving and I find myself getting lost in your images and wanting to take what I see in your work and your inspiration and the emotion you capture.
• 1:50
  Gigi de Manio: I was like God, can I just do that in my work?
• 1:53
  Gigi de Manio: I'm shooting an entirely different subject, but what you capture is what I want to bring to my work.
• 2:00
  Gigi de Manio: I just find it beautiful, it's really beautiful.
• 2:03
  Matt Jacob: Very sweet, thank you, and arguably you do.
• 2:05
  Matt Jacob: We all do things in different ways and we're going to I have questions about that because I have so much respect for you and your incredible work so we could spend an hour just giving each other platitudes and then everyone would be happy.
• 2:17
  Matt Jacob: You're amazing.
• 2:20
  Matt Jacob: No, you're amazing.
• 2:21
  Matt Jacob: Thank you very much.
• 2:22
  Matt Jacob: It's really nice and that's the pleasure of podcasting.
• 2:25
  Matt Jacob: We get to learn from each other and, for me, on a selfish aspect, I get to, you know, learn from loads of people and infuse and be inspired in many different ways in my own work with with the work of all you guys out there.
• 2:39
  Matt Jacob: So, um, I do wish the photography community was a little bit closer in that respect.
• 2:43
  Gigi de Manio: I think with the rise of social media, it gets a little bit competitive, a lot of time or a little bit envious of you know, he's got more followers than me, kind of thing he's got more work than me, right, but yeah that I just have to step back from it and just take a break, because you can still get carried away with it and just you know the FOMO, or just like the envy of like, ah, why can I get that wedding?
• 3:12
  Gigi de Manio: Or you know I worked with that planner, how come I'm not getting that one?
• 3:15
  Gigi de Manio: And yeah it's.
• 3:16
  Gigi de Manio: You can drive yourself crazy and it can be a total self-esteem meltdown.
• 3:20
  Gigi de Manio: Or you know it's just like you have to manage that.
• 3:24
  Matt Jacob: It's hard yeah, it's an energy.
• 3:26
  Matt Jacob: It's an energy that you have to try and harness, and in the, in a positive way.
• 3:30
  Matt Jacob: Right, there's something going.
• 3:32
  Matt Jacob: So I totally know what you mean and, um, I I stay off social media as much as possible because of that yeah I actually found a new artist on instagram about a week ago and I was just blown away.
• 3:46
  Matt Jacob: I just got lost in for hours in his work and the immediate reaction was fuck, why can't I do this?
• 3:55
  Matt Jacob: That was the first reaction.
• 3:57
  Matt Jacob: Then the second one was well, how does he do it so I can copy it?
• 4:00
  Matt Jacob: Both of which are almost negative emotional reactions.
• 4:04
  Matt Jacob: But once I kind of realized that, okay, that's not going to help me in any respect, and just be pleased that there are so many incredible artists out there bringing beauty to the world right, it's a difficult thing to, I guess, respect Okay, well, you just stated exactly my reaction to your work this morning.
• 4:24
  Gigi de Manio: I was doing that, saying that to my husband.
• 4:27
  Gigi de Manio: I was like fuck, you should see his work, it's gorgeous.
• 4:31
  Gigi de Manio: And I was like a picture of hands or the portrait or I don't know.
• 4:35
  Gigi de Manio: Everything you do.
• 4:47
  Gigi de Manio: I'm like.
• 4:48
  Gigi de Manio: I just I feel like in my work and the wedding work it's it moves so quickly.
• 4:53
  Gigi de Manio: I wish I could just like bring it down a notch and just like take a little more time to capture.
• 5:01
  Gigi de Manio: I mean, I have no idea how you work.
• 5:03
  Gigi de Manio: I don't know how much time you take to do an image like that.
• 5:05
  Matt Jacob: So yeah, too long, but um, it's okay I mean, I've read a lot about you.
• 5:12
  Matt Jacob: Well, yeah, I mean it's, it's a work in progress.
• 5:15
  Matt Jacob: I'm I'm trying really, really hard to to work on my storytelling technique, which is, I think, the the for me and my niche.
• 5:24
  Matt Jacob: Um, because I I don't do much commercial work, so I'm very privileged in the fact that I can do what I want most of the time with photography, with the images and with photography.
• 5:32
  Matt Jacob: That may change in the future, but I hope it doesn't.
• 5:35
  Matt Jacob: So I I get the luxury of of having that time and chilling out, but I really now I'm trying to challenge myself this year and being better at focusing on one or two big stories that mean, that mean a lot to me, and then figuring out how to tell that story through through just images, right?
• 5:52
  Matt Jacob: So, um, yeah, I think, um, yeah, and look, this isn't about me, this is about you.
• 5:57
  Gigi de Manio: Let's let's, let's exchange.
• 6:02
  Matt Jacob: I appreciate it's awkward's, awkward, okay, no, yeah, I used to rely a lot on not rely, but I used to use artificial light a lot.
• 6:13
  Matt Jacob: I found there was a unique opportunity to take a light in a softbox away on location to weird and wonderful destinations, which logistically was always really difficult and expensive you know, lugging a load of gear around but I felt added a added some kind of originality element to to my work and then I started using it less and less and my my focus when I'm shooting people is way more on and this is what I want to ask you a lot about it's way more in the connection with the people, because the technical side of things, I've spent years getting to a point where I'm happy with the aesthetic and just lighting.
• 6:50
  Matt Jacob: I love lighting, I love everything about it and I want the lighting to enhance the story and the visuals as much as possible.
• 6:56
  Matt Jacob: Most futile if you don't, especially in portraits, if you don't have, if I don't have, someone in front of me that A wants to be there, that connects with me, that is willing to kind of help tell this story with me.
• 7:10
  Matt Jacob: So I think that's where I've fallen down a lot historically, because I was focused way more on like it looking beautiful.
• 7:17
  Matt Jacob: So now, yeah, I can still.
• 7:21
  Matt Jacob: I can do that a little bit quicker now because I know myself and I know my process a bit more.
• 7:25
  Matt Jacob: But yeah, now it's more the real challenge of creating art out of it like meaningful, impactful art.
• 7:30
  Gigi de Manio: So, um, well, you do, you're right.
• 7:34
  Gigi de Manio: I mean, it is trying to create that connection is the key for what I for, to what I do, and, um, I do wish I had more time to slow down, but it it the nature of what I'm doing.
• 7:47
  Gigi de Manio: It's a wedding day, it's somebody's story, it's not a photo shoot, and I have to keep that in mind as I'm working.
• 7:53
  Gigi de Manio: And so how do you create this connection?
• 7:57
  Gigi de Manio: How do you, um, capture these moments where they I hate to use this authentic word, but yes, it's true how do you?
• 8:03
  Gigi de Manio: How does it feel genuinely true?
• 8:06
  Gigi de Manio: And, um, and it's really about getting to you have to sort of vet your client ahead of time, Like you have to figure out who are they, what, what makes them tick, what do they love about each other, who are the important people in their lives?
• 8:20
  Gigi de Manio: Um, you know, when all is said and done, what pictures are important to you, what pictures of who do you want to have a picture taken with that?
• 8:29
  Gigi de Manio: If you know you didn't get that picture, you'd be so bumming.
• 8:31
  Gigi de Manio: So I need to know all of that ahead of time, and you know I like to know little things.
• 8:36
  Gigi de Manio: How did they meet?
• 8:37
  Gigi de Manio: Are there any special details that have been woven into the wedding that are personal to them.
• 8:44
  Gigi de Manio: I mean, even if it's something that they have at their place setting, it's a little detail or I don't know.
• 8:50
  Gigi de Manio: It's like.
• 8:50
  Gigi de Manio: You know, somebody else may just pass by it, but they put a lot of thought into that.
• 8:54
  Gigi de Manio: So, you know, I'm always looking for these little clues as to what is going to be important to them when, because I am telling a story.
• 9:04
  Gigi de Manio: So everything I'm looking at has a reason for being there the people, they chose the details, they chose the colors, they chose the place.
• 9:13
  Gigi de Manio: So there's a reason.
• 9:15
  Gigi de Manio: Everything is happening and they didn't just throw it together and they're spending an awful lot of money.
• 9:20
  Gigi de Manio: So you know, there's a reason why all these is very intentional.
• 9:24
  Gigi de Manio: And so, you know and I'm not only photographing images for the couple, I'm also working with florists and planners and even the person who made the invitation, who put a lot of thought and time into it.
• 9:39
  Gigi de Manio: So everybody says, you know, comes up to me, did you get?
• 9:43
  Gigi de Manio: Did you get, did you get a picture of?
• 9:45
  Gigi de Manio: I'm like, yeah, I've got it.
• 9:46
  Gigi de Manio: But as I'm shooting, I'm having to constantly think that literally everything I'm passing by, someone touched, someone put their hands on it the lighting, the flowers, the dress, the shoes, I mean everything.
• 10:00
  Gigi de Manio: And so, at the end of it all, I'm sort of the gatekeeper of, you know, the record of this historical day, and people always come can I have images of that.
• 10:09
  Gigi de Manio: So in the end, you know, we all have our memories, but the photos are the only thing left to document it all.
• 10:18
  Gigi de Manio: And so I am photographing different things for different reasons.
• 10:23
  Gigi de Manio: Some of it is just to keep a record of what happened.
• 10:28
  Gigi de Manio: Some of it is I really want to tell the emotional story and record everybody who's there.
• 10:34
  Gigi de Manio: I've taken many, many times I've taken the last photo of somebody in the family and you know it's a weighty thing, you feel it and it's an important day and a lot of um.
• 10:47
  Gigi de Manio: Everybody comes from all around to be there to support you.
• 10:51
  Gigi de Manio: And so it's like I'm I'm telling somebody's personal story, their history, and I feel that pressure when I'm shooting the whole story.
• 11:01
  Gigi de Manio: So I'm realizing, like everything I'm looking at, I am feeling I need to record it.
• 11:08
  Gigi de Manio: So, anyway, I'm rambling, but um no, that's.
• 11:13
  Matt Jacob: I have so many questions from that.
• 11:14
  Matt Jacob: Um, how do you, what is you take?
• 11:18
  Matt Jacob: Take one, I mean first of all, how many weddings do you do roughly a year?
• 11:22
  Gigi de Manio: um roughly, I'd say average about 15 to 18, so not a ton um, but a lot of them are multiple days.
• 11:31
  Gigi de Manio: There'll be travel involved, so it is a big commitment, and I'll have multiple photographers, so there's a lot of images to get through when we're all finished so, yeah, how you know on a, on a, on a normal wedding event.
• 11:46
  Matt Jacob: Obviously they're all different, but if your process is understanding that this takes time, and how much work do you put into the pre-production in terms of getting to know them?
• 11:56
  Matt Jacob: Because you know, obviously like a week before the wedding or a month before the wedding, they're already starting to, you know, think about it, maybe get nervous, maybe not really give photography much attention if you're doing it ahead of time and I'll just do it on the day, kind of thing, or am I way off the mark?
• 12:14
  Matt Jacob: There?
• 12:14
  Matt Jacob: Is that kind of realistic?
• 12:15
  Matt Jacob: How much time do you give to them beforehand?
• 12:18
  Gigi de Manio: Well, it's different for everybody.
• 12:20
  Gigi de Manio: So I'd say the higher profile weddings.
• 12:22
  Gigi de Manio: I don't have as much personal time with them one-on-one.
• 12:26
  Gigi de Manio: A lot of times, if it's a celebrity client, for instance, I am very much kept at a distance because they're not to be bothered and everything goes through the event planner.
• 12:37
  Gigi de Manio: So I'm sort of hounding the planner.
• 12:40
  Gigi de Manio: But you also don't want to be a pain in the ass either.
• 12:42
  Gigi de Manio: They're busy and they look at me like look, you're professional, you know what you're doing, do your job.
• 12:49
  Gigi de Manio: And sometimes I'll say, okay, I get that.
• 12:53
  Gigi de Manio: But in order to do my job really well, I need to know a little bit about them.
• 12:57
  Gigi de Manio: How do they meet?
• 12:58
  Gigi de Manio: So I do usually at least get to meet them initially, establish a connection, make sure you know they like me.
• 13:05
  Gigi de Manio: I mean, it's not just the work, because I'm going to be with them for a couple days.
• 13:10
  Gigi de Manio: So do they like my work?
• 13:12
  Gigi de Manio: But on top of that, can they handle hanging around me for a few days?
• 13:16
  Gigi de Manio: So there is that too.
• 13:20
  Gigi de Manio: So you know, we get to know each other through that initial meeting and then I'm just pretty upfront.
• 13:27
  Gigi de Manio: I'll say listen, you guys, I want to shoot everything that's important to you and I am not being nosy, but please tell me anything that you're comfortable sharing.
• 13:35
  Gigi de Manio: You know, is there anything I need to be aware of, like are there any sort of dicey feeling situations or like, and they'll be like, oh yeah, okay, let me tell you so that we don't have to somehow wait, wait, no, come on, you've got to give us, you've got to give us a story, you've got to give us an example well, just like okay what would be the, what would be the worst situation you've been thrown into as a wedding photographer?
• 14:01
  Gigi de Manio: well, I'm just like dicey situations where you might have like very, not very happy divorced parents that now have new partners and then everybody's coming together and you're doing the family picture.
• 14:11
  Gigi de Manio: So how do we get the dad without the new wife you know in the shot?
• 14:16
  Gigi de Manio: Keep everybody happy?
• 14:17
  Gigi de Manio: It's, it's tricky.
• 14:19
  Gigi de Manio: So sometimes we put the new wife on the end and we crop her out later.
• 14:24
  Gigi de Manio: So it's just like you have to figure it brilliant I bet you gotta have her in there because he wants that picture.
• 14:32
  Gigi de Manio: So you're working with a lot and sometimes I don't even know these.
• 14:36
  Gigi de Manio: Sometimes I don't get these details in the day out, but I get the look and I'm like, okay, you're reading situations constantly and picking up on people's energies and trying to figure out.
• 14:48
  Gigi de Manio: Okay, this is a little tense here.
• 14:50
  Gigi de Manio: I need to figure out what to do and so you have to be bold.
• 14:54
  Gigi de Manio: But you just have to read the room.
• 14:56
  Gigi de Manio: You have to know when to insert yourself and when to step out.
• 15:00
  Gigi de Manio: So, yeah, it's a tricky situation sometimes and it's not just the couple and the mother, the bride and the parents.
• 15:11
  Gigi de Manio: Sometimes you know the planners are, you know, in a really stressful situation and they might get uptight and you just have to let it's just like, you just gotta roll with it.
• 15:22
  Gigi de Manio: So it's a lot of managing personalities and real and don't take it personally.
• 15:27
  Matt Jacob: Just sort of read the room and figure out what's going on and that's actually that's such a skill to to really imbue in the in the experience of being a wedding photographer.
• 15:39
  Matt Jacob: It's.
• 15:39
  Matt Jacob: It's not everyone has that right.
• 15:41
  Matt Jacob: You, you might be able to learn it with experience, but you did, did your because you have a degree in psychology, if I'm, if I'm, corrected, how much did that play in having having education around the mind and and people, and how, how different people work?
• 15:58
  Gigi de Manio: it definitely helped, for sure, it opened my mind up to all of that.
• 16:01
  Gigi de Manio: But also, you know, I've been doing this for 25 years just living life.
• 16:05
  Gigi de Manio: Life too, you know.
• 16:06
  Gigi de Manio: I mean we're constantly learning how to work with people and I have three kids.
• 16:11
  Gigi de Manio: I mean that was quite the education.
• 16:13
  Gigi de Manio: So you know.
• 16:14
  Gigi de Manio: And I'm married, so you know like we're getting a lot of education.
• 16:20
  Gigi de Manio: Yeah, I mean life in general.
• 16:24
  Gigi de Manio: Yeah, I mean life in general if you're open to it.
• 16:29
  Gigi de Manio: The thing is the trick for shooting weddings.
• 16:30
  Gigi de Manio: This might sound so cliche and corny, but you really do.
• 16:32
  Gigi de Manio: Just have to arrive with an open heart.
• 16:33
  Gigi de Manio: You just have to look at the scene and observe the different people and what they might be feeling and take it in, and you know it.
• 16:45
  Gigi de Manio: Know, it bugs me.
• 16:46
  Gigi de Manio: People are always asked oh, have you, have you ever shot an unattractive bride?
• 16:51
  Gigi de Manio: It's like people are just sort of want the dirt and the thing is, you know, like no, not, I don't know.
• 16:57
  Gigi de Manio: I don't see it that way.
• 16:59
  Gigi de Manio: I go in with the attitude that everybody's beautiful and until they prove me otherwise, I'm going to believe that they are beautiful.
• 17:08
  Gigi de Manio: And I feel like, especially on their wedding day, you are looking for the good, you're looking for the hope, and a wedding day is all about hope.
• 17:15
  Gigi de Manio: You know everyone there is well.
• 17:18
  Gigi de Manio: Hopefully they're all there to support you and hope that this union works out, you know.
• 17:29
  Matt Jacob: So next question um, have you ever shot an unattractive bride?
• 17:35
  Matt Jacob: Um, no, you you talked a little bit about that, about looking for, for certain stuff.
• 17:41
  Matt Jacob: Give me, um, a high level overview about you.
• 17:42
  Matt Jacob: Know, if you're going in with an open mind, you don't want to be scattered all over the place, right?
• 17:46
  Matt Jacob: Obviously you might have a team with you and maybe some assistants, I guess, but what are you, as, as the photographer, where are those?
• 17:54
  Matt Jacob: And we talked a little bit about this before we kind of got into things but where are those moments of stillness that you can really kind of focus on?
• 18:02
  Matt Jacob: Okay, what am I for here?
• 18:04
  Matt Jacob: That's going to be really special, really intimate and really kind of be meaningful and powerful, rather than, obviously, you're going to get the normal family shots and the status quo of what you expect or what the bride and groom probably expect they want.
• 18:18
  Matt Jacob: But if I look at your work, you really do spend a lot of effort and time capturing those really immutable moments in between, in between kind of the, the, the staged moments you have at a wedding.
• 18:32
  Matt Jacob: Right, is that really a conscious effort to to go and do that which separates you from others?
• 18:38
  Matt Jacob: Maybe?
• 18:39
  Gigi de Manio: it is um and so at.
• 18:44
  Gigi de Manio: So there's, there are so many things going through my brain as I'm photographing a wedding, and it is a conscious effort, all right.
• 18:53
  Gigi de Manio: Well, I'm sorry, I'm going to back up.
• 18:55
  Gigi de Manio: So before I do a wedding, I really I like to get there beforehand.
• 19:00
  Gigi de Manio: I like to scout the space, I like to sit there and just be in it and feel it and visualize how everything is going to happen, where the bride and groom are getting ready, where they're going to go from there.
• 19:14
  Gigi de Manio: I like to have a whole plan.
• 19:16
  Gigi de Manio: It's like being an athlete you sort of visualize your routine or what you're doing and you picture yourself doing it, so that you can go down that route and that route and do all the images you have in your head.
• 19:28
  Gigi de Manio: Most likely, they're not always going to happen that way, so you come up with a plan A, b and C.
• 19:33
  Gigi de Manio: Okay, well, if they move this way, what are we going to do?
• 19:36
  Gigi de Manio: If I go that way and you just mentally get ready so that you have your big picture, you have your bullet points.
• 19:43
  Gigi de Manio: Okay, well, I'm going to go from here to here, to here to here, Okay, so you have those moments that you think, okay, these are going to be um important shots, say, for getting ready.
• 19:54
  Gigi de Manio: You know, the mom comes in, the dad comes in for the reveal of seeing the bride in her dress and then, um, you followed by um her putting um, her walking out for the first look and seeing the groom.
• 20:08
  Gigi de Manio: So that's another.
• 20:09
  Gigi de Manio: But what about the moment when, um, she sees him?
• 20:14
  Gigi de Manio: He hasn't turned around yet.
• 20:15
  Gigi de Manio: You know, it's like you're.
• 20:17
  Gigi de Manio: You know there are all these in-between moments that are going to happen and they may be winners, they may not, but you have to be ready for it.
• 20:24
  Gigi de Manio: And there's, you know, my heart is still pounding every time I shoot these weddings.
• 20:29
  Gigi de Manio: It's like I've been doing this for so long and I think it's it's.
• 20:34
  Gigi de Manio: It is stressful and I think that's part of why I you're really alert, you're on, you're like antennae are up and you're looking for everything that could possibly happen and the interactions that are going to occur in these moments of connection.
• 20:50
  Gigi de Manio: So the moments of quiet, for instance, are like when the bride a lot of times now, they give each other gifts, wedding gifts and or a letter, and so that's a nice moment.
• 21:01
  Gigi de Manio: Sometimes, you know, it's really joyful, sometimes it's teary, sometimes it's emotional, you don't know what you're going to get.
• 21:09
  Gigi de Manio: But you do, I do have to kind of set the scene a little bit and get a nice spot for the bride or groom to be reading their letter and then up, and then it happens.
• 21:21
  Gigi de Manio: I can't.
• 21:23
  Gigi de Manio: I don't want it to be so choreographed that I'm like you know, okay, well, look this way, and like you know, it's, it's got a, it's just has to be, it has to be real.
• 21:32
  Gigi de Manio: So, um, you know, there's a little bit of luck in if that Matt, if that moment is going to feel magical.
• 21:40
  Gigi de Manio: Um, but then in the say for the first dance, you know, don't know if I'm going to get that sort of real, intimate connection.
• 21:50
  Gigi de Manio: I hope I do.
• 21:50
  Gigi de Manio: Sometimes they're so stiff it's just not going to happen, can't force it, and other times they're just, they are naturally connected.
• 21:57
  Gigi de Manio: I'm like, oh my God, I have so many I don't know which one to choose.
• 21:59
  Gigi de Manio: So it's a little bit of preparation and a little bit of luck to get those moments of stillness, connection, something that feels quiet, I guess, reflective.
• 22:15
  Gigi de Manio: I love those moments.
• 22:18
  Matt Jacob: What keeps you coming back for more?
• 22:20
  Matt Jacob: Why do you do it?
• 22:22
  Matt Jacob: You've been doing it for so long.
• 22:22
  Matt Jacob: Where does the passion come from?
• 22:26
  Gigi de Manio: I'm a romantic, I am totally a romantic.
• 22:29
  Gigi de Manio: I just love a love story.
• 22:31
  Gigi de Manio: I am a total geek for that.
• 22:35
  Gigi de Manio: I just, yeah, I, I love a love story and um, yeah, you know, I, just I, I feel like love is the one thing.
• 22:45
  Gigi de Manio: It's so essential to our human existence.
• 22:47
  Gigi de Manio: I feel like everybody you know either longs for it, um, they want it.
• 22:55
  Gigi de Manio: It doesn't matter who you are, what gender you are, what, where you're from, what culture.
• 22:59
  Gigi de Manio: I mean, as humans, we all have this need to be loved and or we want to love, and so it's an incredible story, like, how do these people come together?
• 23:10
  Gigi de Manio: And I feel the importance that I have to record this story because when I first started out in photography, it was really I went down the road of commercial.
• 23:30
  Gigi de Manio: I went down the road of commercial and I was, I was an assistant in New York and I worked in fashion studios and with fashion photographers and I don't know.
• 23:41
  Gigi de Manio: I sort of for, after about seven years of assisting, I just thought, yeah, I'm not feeling it Like.
• 23:44
  Gigi de Manio: I just wasn't feeling important to me.
• 23:45
  Gigi de Manio: I needed this.
• 23:45
  Gigi de Manio: Who cares?
• 23:46
  Gigi de Manio: And I needed to feel like I was recording something that meant something to somebody.
• 23:51
  Gigi de Manio: And my twin sister was getting married and as a gift to her, I just thought, well, I'm going to shoot a couple roles.
• 24:00
  Gigi de Manio: And it was this aha moment, like when I printed them and I gave her a book, and she was so excited and it was the most rewarding thing I had done up to that point and I thought, okay, I wasn't expecting that.
• 24:14
  Gigi de Manio: I mean always had such a didn't have a lot of respect for wedding photographers.
• 24:18
  Gigi de Manio: I mean, in general at that time, wedding photographers were pretty low on the totem pole of respect.
• 24:24
  Gigi de Manio: I mean it was very contrived, cheesy, pretty awful stuff.
• 24:30
  Gigi de Manio: I mean it wasn't that, it wasn't that interesting.
• 24:33
  Gigi de Manio: There wasn't this drive, it wasn't photojournalistic in this drive to capture emotion, it was more staged and formal and I just thought, you know, doesn't have to be like that.
• 24:45
  Gigi de Manio: This is an incredible day and it incorporates everything that I had learned up to that point.
• 24:51
  Gigi de Manio: You know, it's got portraiture, documentary, product architecture, fashion, editorial, it is formal, family pictures, it is all there and you have to capture all of it and you don't get a lot of chance to say wait a minute, can I go back and do that again?
• 25:09
  Gigi de Manio: It's moving so quickly, so you just have to go boom, boom, boom, boom and you're.
• 25:14
  Gigi de Manio: The reason for taking different pictures is different, for you know, I have so many different reasons for taking a certain picture.
• 25:20
  Gigi de Manio: So there are a lot of boxes I need to check off and make a lot of people happy, and the body of work in the end of it is a beautiful story and it means something and it's not going to get tossed in the trash.
• 25:34
  Gigi de Manio: It's going to be kept for generations and shared.
• 25:39
  Gigi de Manio: So it felt incredibly rewarding and it was just like okay, this is what I want to do.
• 25:41
  Gigi de Manio: It felt incredibly rewarding and it was just like, okay, this is what I want to do.
• 25:44
  Gigi de Manio: So I just went.
• 25:46
  Gigi de Manio: I just started shooting weddings.
• 25:48
  Gigi de Manio: I shot my those roles of film for my twin sister.
• 25:52
  Gigi de Manio: She was working for Delta at the time as a flight attendant.
• 25:55
  Gigi de Manio: She took her book to work and instantly I had like five new brides.
• 26:00
  Gigi de Manio: They're like oh my God, this is I want to.
• 26:02
  Gigi de Manio: I want her to shoot my wedding.
• 26:03
  Gigi de Manio: This is completely different than anything I've seen, and so it just took off from there.
• 26:09
  Gigi de Manio: So I never assisted other photographers doing weddings.
• 26:13
  Gigi de Manio: I just did it the way I thought it should be done and, um, tell the story, just do it.
• 26:21
  Gigi de Manio: So it went from there.
• 26:24
  Matt Jacob: Incredible.
• 26:25
  Matt Jacob: What a what a steep learning curve.
• 26:26
  Matt Jacob: I guess During that learning curve of jumping straight into the deep end, did you find any?
• 26:33
  Matt Jacob: Did you have any bad experiences?
• 26:36
  Matt Jacob: Did you have any negative feedback during that learning process with weddings?
• 26:40
  Matt Jacob: Because I just think of the pressure.
• 26:41
  Matt Jacob: I mean I couldn't do it.
• 26:42
  Matt Jacob: I'd just be up all night and sweating because it's so much pressure.
• 26:47
  Matt Jacob: I feel it for you, the fact that you still feel that every wedding is kind of humbling because you've been doing it for long enough, but it's one day, it's hopefully one couple's wedding in their life and it's the most special recording that they can have.
• 27:03
  Matt Jacob: So when you were starting out, did you have any of the opposite experience where people weren't too happy?
• 27:13
  Gigi de Manio: I don't mean to sound arrogant, but not to my knowledge.
• 27:19
  Matt Jacob: Brilliant, but it's, you know, it sounds like you.
• 27:23
  Matt Jacob: You, uh, you knew photography so well.
• 27:25
  Matt Jacob: Anyway, then, right, you'd been doing it for for long enough.
• 27:29
  Matt Jacob: You had.
• 27:29
  Matt Jacob: You'd come from an analog background.
• 27:31
  Matt Jacob: Um, so you, you knew photography inside and out.
• 27:34
  Matt Jacob: It was just a matter of tailoring that for for weddings, which sounds like it was perfectly natural for you.
• 27:40
  Gigi de Manio: Exactly, I started shooting weddings with Hasselblad two and a quarter and yeah, I know.
• 27:46
  Gigi de Manio: So it was like, do you?
• 27:47
  Gigi de Manio: Still have it I do yeah, it's in the closet downstairs.
• 27:53
  Matt Jacob: Do you still shoot any analog or get into the darkroom?
• 27:56
  Gigi de Manio: I love no digital all the way and for so many reasons, but I did like the film.
• 28:03
  Gigi de Manio: I mean I do love the square format, but it was definitely.
• 28:07
  Gigi de Manio: I have so much more freedom with digital and I just love it.
• 28:12
  Gigi de Manio: But when I was shooting with the Hasselblad, yeah, my assistant was there.
• 28:17
  Gigi de Manio: She was not a second shooter or he, he would just be there.
• 28:18
  Gigi de Manio: She was not a second shooter or he, he would just be there to.
• 28:20
  Gigi de Manio: I'd say black and white, no color.
• 28:23
  Gigi de Manio: So I would literally take the dark slide, you know, put it in the film back, hand it over and they'd give me the other back with a color of black and white.
• 28:32
  Gigi de Manio: So I would have to decide ahead of time this feels like a black and white moment or this feels like a color moment.
• 28:37
  Gigi de Manio: So you know, some people, how would you decide that?
• 28:42
  Gigi de Manio: I think so.
• 28:44
  Gigi de Manio: For instance, like if I was photographing a father, the bride and the bride doing the father daughter dance, somehow to me that feels black and white.
• 28:57
  Gigi de Manio: Somehow to me that feels black and white.
• 28:58
  Gigi de Manio: I want to whenever I feel like there's I'm recording connection and emotion, that that feels timeless and something that really, I guess when I'd say, I'd say, when I'm really trying to express moments of love, I feel that feels black and white to me, whereas if I'm shooting a party shot, like a dancing shot, celebration, that feels like color to me.
• 29:24
  Gigi de Manio: I mean, it can be black and white too.
• 29:26
  Gigi de Manio: I actually do have one of my all-time favorite shots is black and white and it's with everyone singing around the table and it's when you know the old tradition of when the bride and groom, when everyone would like the bride and groom to kiss at the table, they would clank their glasses and be like, hey, everybody, you bride and groom kiss.
• 29:44
  Gigi de Manio: And they said, ok, we'll kiss, but you can't.
• 29:48
  Gigi de Manio: We're not going to do it that way.
• 29:49
  Gigi de Manio: If you want us to kiss your table has to come to our table and sing a song with the word love in it.
• 29:54
  Gigi de Manio: So I have this fabulous image where two tables came to the bride and groom's couple table and they're all singing a song with the word love in it.
• 30:03
  Gigi de Manio: So there's all this energy and commotion, but I shot it in black and white and it has this real, timeless quality to it To this day.
• 30:11
  Gigi de Manio: It's one of the first weddings I ever did.
• 30:17
  Gigi de Manio: It's still one of my favorite shots, and that's.
• 30:20
  Matt Jacob: I think black and white can do that.
• 30:21
  Matt Jacob: Yeah, well, there's definitely a timeless aspect to black and white, as well as taking any kind of color distraction out of it.
• 30:24
  Matt Jacob: So you can, you know, certainly, like you said, those more, those deeper emotional moments, that really, really stands out.
• 30:30
  Matt Jacob: I think a lot of people may not know how to use black and white these days.
• 30:33
  Matt Jacob: I, I knew, I didn't know, I always used to think it was cheaty if you couldn't do, if you didn't know color theory.
• 30:39
  Matt Jacob: But actually using it, well, it can be extremely powerful.
• 30:44
  Matt Jacob: But you know, harping back to those old days, we'd have to choose ahead of time.
• 30:50
  Matt Jacob: It's very nostalgic and you know, it's almost.
• 30:53
  Matt Jacob: I don't know if photography would be better off if we kind of slowed it down like that more, but I think in your arena with wedding photography, the more you can get and the easier it can be, then the better.
• 31:05
  Matt Jacob: Right, you don't want to be holding people up or holding yourself up, when you think about timelessness and when you think about the telling images that you want to get.
• 31:18
  Matt Jacob: How do you keep innovating that kind of creativity?
• 31:23
  Matt Jacob: How do you go into each wedding with a fresh mind and with the idea that, okay, well, I have to serve the client, but also I want to do something that's not necessarily a little bit different, but make sure I capture those different moments.
• 31:35
  Matt Jacob: Does that come into your process?
• 31:37
  Gigi de Manio: Yeah, it does, because you know you want to keep it fresh, you want to feel energized and motivated, and you want to.
• 31:44
  Gigi de Manio: I'm constantly learning.
• 31:45
  Gigi de Manio: I've never, never to this day, feel like I've got it, I'm done, you know, like I know every I know, and that's the beauty of photography is that you're constantly and pushing yourself.
• 32:00
  Gigi de Manio: I mean, if you're invested in it, you are pushing yourself.
• 32:02
  Gigi de Manio: You want to try something new, new and I think once I get comfortable with a certain way of doing things, it's like, okay, cool, I got that and that.
• 32:12
  Gigi de Manio: So then I I try, I take chances, and that's one of the beauties of working with digital that it allows me to do that.
• 32:19
  Gigi de Manio: You know, I can really drag the shutter.
• 32:22
  Gigi de Manio: Or you know, I just I want to, as much as I can, pull in the ambient light and all these beautiful colors that they have going on and combine that with, you know, still making the couple look great.
• 32:35
  Gigi de Manio: So how do I do that?
• 32:36
  Gigi de Manio: And so I play around a lot making the couple look great.
• 32:41
  Gigi de Manio: So how do I do that?
• 32:42
  Gigi de Manio: And so I play around a lot.
• 32:42
  Gigi de Manio: I do.
• 32:43
  Gigi de Manio: I do push myself to see new things, see things differently and honestly, you know, seeing your work, that I mean, it makes me think.
• 32:49
  Gigi de Manio: You know, it's like you look at other people's work that you're inspired by and I may pick something up from you know, looking at some of your images and think, gosh, and I was doing that this morning Like what, what can I do?
• 33:02
  Gigi de Manio: How can I incorporate some of this feeling that I get from looking at your work?
• 33:08
  Gigi de Manio: How can I pull that into what I do?
• 33:10
  Gigi de Manio: And you know, I somehow I'm thinking to myself can I slow things down?
• 33:17
  Gigi de Manio: Can I take a little bit more time and try and do something like this, so like what I see in your work?
• 33:24
  Gigi de Manio: And I don't know, sometimes I can, sometimes I can't.
• 33:26
  Gigi de Manio: There's always such a tight timeline and it's frustrating.
• 33:30
  Gigi de Manio: So you, there's only so much you can do.
• 33:33
  Matt Jacob: But at least it's in my brain, you know, and I'm thinking about it, so you get motivated to try it I think, being aware of, aware of that and yeah, like you said, just uh, just just knowing that you want to try each time to do something different or have a specific concept in mind, and it may not work right, and that's the process of, like you said, learning all the time and making mistakes.
• 33:58
  Matt Jacob: Or the biggest thing that haunts me is if I don't try something right.
• 34:05
  Matt Jacob: And I mean with weddings I can only imagine, because time is so tight, it's so easy to get drawn into what I capture as much as possible, and often it's when you kind of take a step back, I imagine.
• 34:19
  Matt Jacob: I mean, I hear from you, but imagine if you just take a breath, take a step back, and that power of observation is worth a lot more than just spraying and praying, I guess.
• 34:29
  Gigi de Manio: Exactly.
• 34:30
  Gigi de Manio: And there are times when it's a long day too, so you can get tired and you can start to just phone it in.
• 34:37
  Gigi de Manio: And if I ever feel myself doing that, I do step away and I take literally it's like I'm shooting for, sometimes for 12, 14 hours.
• 34:44
  Gigi de Manio: So it's like, okay, I can afford to take a 10 minute break and look away.
• 34:49
  Gigi de Manio: And I always find that when I do that and I come back I'm like, oh my gosh, I didn't see that before.
• 34:56
  Gigi de Manio: Or even if I lean down to my camera bag for a minute and just take a breath, and then I look up, I see things differently and I notice things I didn't see before.
• 35:06
  Gigi de Manio: So it is just about reminding yourself to pause for a little bit and slow down or throw on a different lens, just try anything to start to see things a little differently, and it gets exciting again.
• 35:23
  Gigi de Manio: You know, sometimes the energy is not there and you know if the crowd, if the couple, if what you see in front of you is not grabbing you that's the scary thing.
• 35:34
  Gigi de Manio: It's like, oh God, what am I going to do?
• 35:35
  Gigi de Manio: I've got to figure out something.
• 35:37
  Gigi de Manio: I cannot leave the wedding without knowing that I gave it my full-on best.
• 35:44
  Gigi de Manio: Like you know, I got it like okay, time to dig deep here, find something, put on a different lens or try a different light I don't know anything.
• 35:51
  Gigi de Manio: Try a different perspective, so anything that can get me excited.
• 35:55
  Gigi de Manio: So it is a challenge sometimes.
• 35:58
  Gigi de Manio: It doesn't always come so easily, to be honest and so why the is?
• 36:03
  Matt Jacob: is that part of the reason you do 15 weddings a year?
• 36:07
  Matt Jacob: Is I mean that seems quite low, but I I don't.
• 36:12
  Matt Jacob: I've spoken to other wedding photographers and they yeah, no, I have no interest in that.
• 36:18
  Matt Jacob: Okay, that's all I wanted to hear.
• 36:21
  Matt Jacob: Well, I imagine I think I would be the same, Like I want to give my 100%, all to one wedding a month, or one wedding every couple of weeks, right yeah.
• 36:29
  Matt Jacob: And be the best version of myself for that specific wedding, rather than it feel like a job almost.
• 36:36
  Gigi de Manio: Yeah, no, I have no interest in doing like even 35 a year.
• 36:40
  Gigi de Manio: No thanks, um.
• 36:41
  Gigi de Manio: And you know I I was very intentional about that and and the way to do that is you raise your prices and you, you know you get fewer people that want to do it.
• 36:50
  Gigi de Manio: So I was like, okay, that works for me.
• 36:52
  Gigi de Manio: You know, charge more, shoot less.
• 36:54
  Gigi de Manio: And you know, and the thing is is that you know if you're shooting 15 to 18, but there are, they are multiple days and there's travel involved.
• 36:59
  Gigi de Manio: And you know, and the thing is is that you know if you're shooting 15 to 18, but there are, they are multiple days and there's travel involved, and you know, there there's a lot of post-production.
• 37:05
  Gigi de Manio: It's not just that one day of the year, you know you're, it's not just 15 work days you've got, there's a whole lot attached to that work day.
• 37:13
  Gigi de Manio: So, um, it ends up, yeah it, yeah they're very it's a week each right.
• 37:19
  Gigi de Manio: Yeah, oh, at least yeah.
• 37:21
  Gigi de Manio: And even for the post-production you can add on a bunch, because I do albums too.
• 37:25
  Gigi de Manio: So it's a lot.
• 37:27
  Gigi de Manio: It is a lot of work and there's prep too, you know, managing the whole thing and talking to the event planner and figuring out the itinerary, and there's a lot of planning going on too.
• 37:38
  Gigi de Manio: So, yeah, plenty of flights and all of that if I was a?
• 37:43
  Matt Jacob: if I was a, yeah, I mean, I, I could.
• 37:46
  Matt Jacob: I mean I can only imagine people.
• 37:47
  Matt Jacob: Some people think you just turn up to the wedding and shoot, right, but it's, it's a whole pre, pre, the pre-production, post-production, is is 90 of it and the the day itself is, you know, it's yeah, if I was a wannabe wedding photographer right now and talking to you what would be kind of two or three bits of advice you know over so many years of doing it, um, just general bits of advice that you would, you would give me oh boy, um, really, it just has to be something that really speaks to you.
• 38:20
  Gigi de Manio: It's, it's, it is a hard day, it's not, it's not something you just phone in.
• 38:26
  Gigi de Manio: Um, it really has has to be something that you're you're thinking, yeah, I mean, I don't know.
• 38:33
  Gigi de Manio: The subject matter really has to speak to you.
• 38:36
  Gigi de Manio: I mean I know a lot of people are like, oh my God, there's no way I would do a wedding, no thanks.
• 38:40
  Gigi de Manio: And for me I'm thinking, well, there's no way I'd really want to be a product shooter I mean, it's just, it has to, you know or an architectural shooter, even though I do some of that with my wedding work.
• 38:51
  Gigi de Manio: But it's like a boom and I'm done.
• 38:52
  Gigi de Manio: So I don't know and, um, I don't know.
• 38:56
  Gigi de Manio: That's probably the obvious answer.
• 38:58
  Gigi de Manio: Does it speak to you?
• 38:59
  Gigi de Manio: Are you passionate about the subject matter?
• 39:01
  Gigi de Manio: But, in order to get started, I'm trying to think how did I?
• 39:07
  Gigi de Manio: Well, I photographed my sister's wedding and then it was spread by word of mouth.
• 39:11
  Gigi de Manio: But a lot of people ask me how do you get into the luxury market of shooting weddings?
• 39:16
  Gigi de Manio: And that would be more so with working with event planners.
• 39:20
  Gigi de Manio: So when I first started, it wasn't really, it was a very different business then I mean I started basically right when the internet was just coming out and websites.
• 39:31
  Gigi de Manio: I mean it was all very new.
• 39:33
  Gigi de Manio: And now there are so many opportunities to connect to event planners who are planning these fabulous weddings.
• 39:43
  Gigi de Manio: So much of it is about connecting to people and creating your network of people who can work with you to do these events.
• 39:53
  Gigi de Manio: So I don't know, I mean, find people who you respect planners, florists start talking to people in the business whose work you like and start making connections.
• 40:05
  Gigi de Manio: And you know that can be like, hey, I'll work with you.
• 40:09
  Gigi de Manio: I'm not saying, do it all for free, but a little bit of like hey, I can do this for you if you want to.
• 40:15
  Gigi de Manio: It's all about establishing relationships.
• 40:17
  Gigi de Manio: I can do this for you if you want to.
• 40:18
  Gigi de Manio: It's all about establishing relationships.
• 40:20
  Gigi de Manio: So, and there are so many talented photographers out there doing weddings and other things but how do you make yourself stand out?
• 40:29
  Gigi de Manio: It's hard, it's really tough.
• 40:31
  Gigi de Manio: So I think it really comes down to forming relationships, and you know I go to conferences and networking opportunities.
• 40:44
  Gigi de Manio: So it's not something that I'm.
• 40:45
  Gigi de Manio: You know I can stop doing.
• 40:46
  Gigi de Manio: You're constantly building these relationships with people.
• 40:51
  Matt Jacob: Yeah, I think what I get from those answers you just gave is you've got to be a people person and you've got to.
• 40:58
  Matt Jacob: You've got to understand really why you want to be a wedding photographer.
• 41:02
  Matt Jacob: I mean, it's easy to say I want to be a wedding photographer, but ask yourself honestly if you can honestly say you know, like in your case you, you love it so much because you love, love and uh, you know then people might have different reasons.
• 41:16
  Matt Jacob: But at least be honest with yourself about why you want to do it, because otherwise you won't a necessarily do a good job and b do it for that long.
• 41:24
  Matt Jacob: So that's right, absolutely it's difficult, it is well, you know, it's great to uh, to see someone who's done it successfully for for so long.
• 41:35
  Matt Jacob: I mean, um, what an inspiration Outside of wedding photography.
• 41:40
  Matt Jacob: I mean, you obviously have a family and you have other interests, I'm sure.
• 41:44
  Matt Jacob: What else do you do with photography, if anything?
• 41:48
  Matt Jacob: You talk about conferences.
• 41:49
  Matt Jacob: Do you do any teaching?
• 41:51
  Matt Jacob: You obviously print some stuff.
• 41:53
  Matt Jacob: Do you do publications in other outlets?
• 41:56
  Gigi de Manio: Well, I go to conferences, um, there is one that I just absolutely love.
• 42:00
  Gigi de Manio: It's called engage and it is for the luxury wedding market, um, and they have multiple events throughout the year, four to five, and um, I've done speaking engages there.
• 42:13
  Gigi de Manio: I've also been on the photography team that is there to tell the story of Engage so that they can use it for marketing, and that is actually a place where you know a lot of photographers.
• 42:25
  Gigi de Manio: We all go and we talk shop and we talk about what motivates us and what cameras are you using now and what new equipment, and you know we all compete against each other at the same time, but in this place, no one cares about that.
• 42:47
  Gigi de Manio: We just we're friends and we support each other and it's you know.
• 42:51
  Gigi de Manio: I come back to my studio and I'm in my, my space and it's just me, um, but my, my community.
• 42:58
  Gigi de Manio: I have a wide net of planners, florists you know all these creative people that are involved in the wedding industry and um, we're all spread throughout the country and the world and we all motivate each other.
• 43:13
  Gigi de Manio: We're a great support system for each other.
• 43:15
  Gigi de Manio: So we've come together at these conferences and that's fantastic.
• 43:18
  Gigi de Manio: It's wonderful.
• 43:19
  Gigi de Manio: So I feel really lucky to be a part of that, and then other outlets.
• 43:24
  Gigi de Manio: I mean I put together a book this past September.
• 43:28
  Gigi de Manio: I just launched a 25-year retrospective of all of my favorite wedding images retrospective of all of my favorite wedding images and it's a book called silver to um commemorate the you give each other, uh, silver, something silver on your 25th anniversary.
• 43:43
  Gigi de Manio: So it's called silver moments into memories and that was a really fun project available on amazon now yes, exactly available on amazon.
• 43:53
  Gigi de Manio: So, um, yeah, I got my little plug in there.
• 43:56
  Gigi de Manio: Thank you, matt.
• 43:56
  Gigi de Manio: Um, so, yeah, so that was a great project to do and a nice time to reflect and look back at all the work that I've done it to this point.
• 44:07
  Gigi de Manio: And you know, when I was younger, I I really loved life magazine and know Life magazine was just about photos.
• 44:16
  Gigi de Manio: It was really.
• 44:17
  Gigi de Manio: I just remember looking at them and getting lost in the images, and that's the power of photography.
• 44:23
  Gigi de Manio: It's just you can look at it once and then go back and look at it again and feel something different or notice something different, and it just makes you stop and look and reflect.
• 44:32
  Gigi de Manio: And you know, it was really.
• 44:35
  Gigi de Manio: It was a great experience to go back and relive all of these weddings that I've done over 25 years.
• 44:41
  Gigi de Manio: And and you know why I chose different images, there are different reasons for choosing all of them.
• 44:47
  Gigi de Manio: They spoke to me and for one reason or another, and that's why they're included.
• 44:51
  Gigi de Manio: So it truly is just a picture book.
• 44:53
  Gigi de Manio: It's just an opportunity to get lost in these images and feel something.
• 44:57
  Gigi de Manio: And that's what I think is the most important and that is my biggest goal when I photograph something, when I take an image is I just want the viewer to feel something, whether a moment of connection or reflection, or love or joy.
• 45:10
  Gigi de Manio: It's a powerful thing to be able to do that.
• 45:16
  Matt Jacob: How do you do that with with weddings, when it's so personal to the bride and groom?
• 45:21
  Matt Jacob: Do you find there's it's even more difficult to make external audience members, such as me.
• 45:28
  Matt Jacob: If I'm looking at your photos of some people I don't know right, how do you does that come into your brain?
• 45:34
  Gigi de Manio: No, I either think you know one image may speak to you or it may not, but it might speak to somebody else, and I think it's.
• 45:43
  Gigi de Manio: Can you relate to it?
• 45:46
  Gigi de Manio: If you see something happening in a picture, can you feel that?
• 45:50
  Gigi de Manio: Can you imagine yourself feeling that too?
• 45:53
  Gigi de Manio: And if you can, then cool, I did what I wanted to do, made you feel something, even if it stirs up something that was like ooh, awkward, uncomfortable, whatever.
• 46:05
  Gigi de Manio: It's generally not what I'm going for in a wedding, but yeah, that's the beauty of art too.
• 46:11
  Gigi de Manio: Um, yeah, I just, you know, that's, that's the beauty of art too.
• 46:16
  Gigi de Manio: It's like you can't please everybody, you just can't.
• 46:19
  Gigi de Manio: And so I, when I'm shooting, I find that a lot of times.
• 46:25
  Gigi de Manio: I try not to think too much, I just want to feel it, and if I'm really caught up in what I'm feeling and what you know, and I can connect to what's in front of me, then I feel like somebody else is going to too, but I don't really care, I'm not thinking about that, I'm just shooting it because I'm feeling it, and usually those moments resonate for somebody else too.
• 46:50
  Matt Jacob: Tell me more about the book.
• 46:51
  Matt Jacob: What sparked it initially?
• 46:52
  Matt Jacob: Was it a feeling of a desire to leave a legacy or just to kind of be a little bit nostalgic?
• 46:59
  Gigi de Manio: well, I'll be really honest.
• 47:00
  Gigi de Manio: It was my husband's idea and he pushed me to do this, like probably after I was in the business for 10 years.
• 47:07
  Gigi de Manio: I'm like no way.
• 47:08
  Gigi de Manio: Then 15, like nope.
• 47:10
  Gigi de Manio: And he kept saying, geez, we gotta, you gotta do this.
• 47:14
  Gigi de Manio: Um, I'm like who cares?
• 47:16
  Gigi de Manio: Like no one in a little bit of for what you just touched on.
• 47:21
  Gigi de Manio: I was like, well, why don't I create a book of images that other, of other people's weddings?
• 47:26
  Gigi de Manio: Like who would enjoy that?
• 47:27
  Gigi de Manio: And then it became 25 years and he said I know I got it.
• 47:34
  Gigi de Manio: Why don't we't we call it silver?
• 47:35
  Gigi de Manio: He was always pushing me to do this.
• 47:37
  Gigi de Manio: So I'm like, oh, okay, that's cool, I can get into that idea and you know.
• 47:43
  Gigi de Manio: Then he goes on.
• 47:44
  Gigi de Manio: He's like you know, because so when you're dead, you know your kids will have something to remember, okay you had me at the title.
• 47:51
  Gigi de Manio: You didn't need to go that far, I mean.
• 47:56
  Gigi de Manio: So he's like, well, you need a body of work.
• 47:58
  Gigi de Manio: He's like, when the website is down, it's gone, like, why don't you just have?
• 48:01
  Gigi de Manio: You need to have something to show your work.
• 48:04
  Gigi de Manio: I'm like, okay, cool, all right, let's do it.
• 48:07
  Gigi de Manio: So he was really instrumental in helping me make it happen.
• 48:11
  Gigi de Manio: So that was really fun and, yeah, I'm proud of it.
• 48:15
  Gigi de Manio: It's a good collection and it's personal to me.
• 48:19
  Gigi de Manio: So, yes, they are other people's weddings, but when I look at the imagers, I see moments.
• 48:24
  Gigi de Manio: I remember certain situations.
• 48:26
  Gigi de Manio: For instance, the bride and groom are just about to come down the stairs exiting the church, and you've got everybody lining up on both sides of the stairs exiting the church.
• 48:37
  Gigi de Manio: And you've got everybody lining up on both sides of the um the stairs and they're getting ready to do the big confetti.
• 48:40
  Gigi de Manio: You know, boom, like the rose petals, and the bride and groom are going to walk through them.
• 48:43
  Gigi de Manio: And I'm looking around.
• 48:44
  Gigi de Manio: I'm thinking, oh my God, which idiot is going to be the one that's going to jump in the middle of the stairs with their iPhone and get the shot?
• 48:50
  Gigi de Manio: And I knew it.
• 48:52
  Gigi de Manio: I was like, oh, there he is, and I found the guy and he was getting ready to get into the stairs and I'm all the way at the bottom of the stairs, okay, so they're gonna come down the stairs to me, and so I have to run halfway up and the bride and groom are at the top.
• 49:07
  Gigi de Manio: They're ready to descend the stairs, so I have to run halfway up.
• 49:10
  Gigi de Manio: Tell the guy politely could you please move aside, get the.
• 49:24
  Gigi de Manio: Could you please move aside, get the fuck out of the way?
• 49:25
  Gigi de Manio: Get the fuck out of the way.
• 49:25
  Gigi de Manio: That's what I wanted to say, yeah and um.
• 49:26
  Gigi de Manio: And then he's like, looking back at me like what?
• 49:27
  Gigi de Manio: And I'm like, thank you, please move over.
• 49:27
  Gigi de Manio: And then I have to run back down backwards and you know, still shooting oh my god, it was, it's scary and so I got the shot you got the shot I got the shot and so, yes, that image is in the book because, personally, it was a victory for me and, on top of that, it was a good one.
• 49:43
  Gigi de Manio: I really liked it and it shows the joy and it's the celebration, so, anyway, so, yeah, there are some moments of victory for me where I actually captured what I wanted.
• 49:55
  Gigi de Manio: Moments of victory for me where I actually captured what I wanted and yeah, so, yeah, you always get the, the aunt in the red dress standing in the middle of the aisle with the iPad.
• 50:03
  Gigi de Manio: I'm like, really, really, yeah, Everyone has a.
• 50:11
  Matt Jacob: everyone has a camera these days, right?
• 50:13
  Gigi de Manio: Unbelievable.
• 50:13
  Matt Jacob: Yes, they do, yeahhuh how do you see the, the future of of your work, but more importantly, the future of of wedding photography and even wider, in photography in general, when we understand that everyone's got a camera and ai is coming about and there's more saturation and competition than ever is?
• 50:34
  Matt Jacob: Do you care?
• 50:35
  Matt Jacob: Do is it?
• 50:35
  Matt Jacob: Is that something you really give much attention to?
• 50:38
  Gigi de Manio: no, I don't.
• 50:39
  Gigi de Manio: I mean it is what we do.
• 50:43
  Gigi de Manio: There is an art to it and it takes a lot of practice.
• 50:47
  Gigi de Manio: I mean think how many hours we've spent taking pictures and looking through a lens and composite, composing and framing, like you know, you're, you're the, the ones for on the iPhone and I'm not saying that people on the iPhone are not talented.
• 51:03
  Gigi de Manio: I mean there are a lot of really great shooters but as a whole, um, I don't think it's going to replace what I bring to the wedding the day of the wedding, and I mean I have to believe that, otherwise I might as well just quit.
• 51:19
  Gigi de Manio: But you know, it's interesting when you think about it.
• 51:24
  Gigi de Manio: Like when we take pictures, what we're recording is truly everything is like what we're feeling, what's coming through our eyes.
• 51:31
  Gigi de Manio: It's so personal.
• 51:32
  Gigi de Manio: It's like you know there are 100 people looking at this scene, but what's recorded is what you decide, what I decide to frame that moment, to press the shutter, what tells us to do that, and so it's so incredibly personal and it is an interesting thing to see the body of work when we're all done.
• 51:54
  Gigi de Manio: We photographed a wedding story.
• 51:57
  Gigi de Manio: This was everything that I was feeling, what I was seeing, and hopefully it speaks to the bride and groom and reminds them of what they were feeling.
• 52:07
  Gigi de Manio: And that's what I really want in the end is, when I present my work to them, I want to remind them what they were feeling in that moment, even though it's sort of a record of what I was feeling, because I shot it and it's all coming through my lens, my eyes, I don't know.
• 52:29
  Matt Jacob: That's a great way of, that's a really wonderful way of explaining it, and I'm glad you touched on that because I want to do full circle now to, I think, one of the first photographs you ever took, that of your friend.
• 52:41
  Matt Jacob: This was a four word in your book, so I'm doing a complete disservice, I think, but that that moment in the dark room when you saw the magic of this portrait that you took of your friend in college or yes or a family member or something, and you, you understood that, wow, this really was a fraction of a second, of a moment that can never happen again, and capturing this young lady.
• 53:06
  Matt Jacob: I don't know why.
• 53:06
  Matt Jacob: I'm telling it.
• 53:07
  Matt Jacob: You tell me the story.
• 53:08
  Gigi de Manio: You're doing a great job.
• 53:11
  Matt Jacob: There's a romance to it, so yeah please tell me.
• 53:13
  Gigi de Manio: Well, thank you, I'm glad you remembered, which means that it spoke to you.
• 53:17
  Gigi de Manio: But, um, yes, so this was.
• 53:20
  Gigi de Manio: I was a, um, a psychology major in college and it was my senior year.
• 53:25
  Gigi de Manio: And they said, okay, you're ready to graduate, but not really, because you have not finished your art requirement.
• 53:30
  Gigi de Manio: And I was like, oh my god, I'm not artistic, I don't know what to do.
• 53:34
  Gigi de Manio: And they said, well, here are your choices, and photography was one of them.
• 53:37
  Gigi de Manio: And so I like, okay, artistic, I don't know what to do.
• 53:38
  Gigi de Manio: And they said, well, here are your choices, and photography was one of them.
• 53:42
  Gigi de Manio: And so I was like, okay, I think I can do that.
• 53:43
  Gigi de Manio: That sounds cool.
• 53:43
  Gigi de Manio: So I picked up a camera and one of our first assignments was to take a portrait of a friend.
• 53:49
  Gigi de Manio: So I photographed my friend, liz, and then we went into the dark room and I'm, you know, in the developer, and then it was truly magic.
• 53:59
  Gigi de Manio: I saw her face appear and it was.
• 54:01
  Gigi de Manio: I'll never forget it.
• 54:03
  Gigi de Manio: It's that moment just hit you and I was my.
• 54:06
  Gigi de Manio: I was like, oh my gosh, this is so cool.
• 54:10
  Gigi de Manio: It was, it was like magic.
• 54:12
  Gigi de Manio: And I just remembered.
• 54:13
  Gigi de Manio: I remember the shooting.
• 54:16
  Gigi de Manio: Taking the shot was a little bit awkward.
• 54:19
  Gigi de Manio: It was difficult, it wasn't.
• 54:21
  Gigi de Manio: It didn't flow so easily, but there was that split second where I got this moment and it was like I fell in love with that image and I thought, wow, we're all ready to graduate, we're 21.
• 54:38
  Gigi de Manio: We're sort of like what's going to happen next?
• 54:41
  Gigi de Manio: And I had just captured this moment in time.
• 54:44
  Gigi de Manio: That will never happen again and there was a real power to that.
• 54:49
  Gigi de Manio: I thought it was.
• 54:50
  Gigi de Manio: I'm recording someone's history and it was fun because I reconnected with her this past September when the book came out and you know, she's basically the first portrait I'd ever taken and here she was, you know, coming to my book launch and she was there to support me.
• 55:09
  Gigi de Manio: It was pretty great.
• 55:10
  Gigi de Manio: Do you still?
• 55:12
  Gigi de Manio: have that photo I do yeah.
• 55:15
  Matt Jacob: I do, I have it.
• 55:15
  Matt Jacob: You're going to have to send me a copy okay well, if you don't mind, if liz doesn't mind I don't mind um, yeah, I'd love to.
• 55:22
  Matt Jacob: I'd love to see it okay yeah, what a wonderful story and it's such a privilege, isn't it to, to be part of that, um, especially with someone else.
• 55:30
  Matt Jacob: That's why I love portrait work and, well, taking photos of people, because it's a two-way thing and it's it's their space and you're capturing something in them, in those eyes.
• 55:42
  Matt Jacob: Um, that will will never happen again.
• 55:44
  Matt Jacob: They will never have that feeling.
• 55:46
  Matt Jacob: You'll never have that feeling.
• 55:47
  Matt Jacob: It's, it's such a once in a lifetime moment.
• 55:49
  Matt Jacob: That's uh, you know, it's extremely powerful as you.
• 55:53
  Gigi de Manio: I want to ask you a quick question, matt.
• 55:55
  Gigi de Manio: How much time do you spend with your subjects before there's such a serenity and a quietness and a confidence, I mean there's such peace?
• 56:09
  Gigi de Manio: I keep coming back to this word, peace, when I look at your work with your subjects, and how do you get them there, there, how do you get them to that space of comfort?
• 56:20
  Matt Jacob: well, yeah, I mean I'm glad you recognize that that's kind of what I'm going for.
• 56:24
  Matt Jacob: I love I love minimalism.
• 56:27
  Matt Jacob: I love negative space.
• 56:28
  Matt Jacob: I love peace.
• 56:30
  Matt Jacob: It's something a deep, burning desire in myself.
• 56:33
  Matt Jacob: It's or it's just a reflection of kind of who I want to be.
• 56:35
  Matt Jacob: I want more peace in my life.
• 56:37
  Matt Jacob: I enjoy just no one around and being in the comfort of my own environment in peace and quiet.
• 56:44
  Matt Jacob: So there's something deeply personal in that.
• 56:46
  Matt Jacob: But in terms of the process, I like to say that I spend a lot of time with them.
• 56:52
  Matt Jacob: It does vary depending on what project I'm on or if I'm maybe working for someone else or partnering with someone else, but in an ideal world I'll spend a week with people before I I get them in front of the camera wow in reality it's.
• 57:07
  Matt Jacob: In reality it's a day, uh, or a couple of days, um.
• 57:11
  Matt Jacob: But yeah, if, if I was to to draw out a perfect project, the first week would not be me picking up a camera.
• 57:19
  Matt Jacob: It would just be me engrossing myself in that environment with those people and allowing them to learn about me as much as me learning about them.
• 57:28
  Matt Jacob: But don't forget, there's a lot of photographs I don't publish.
• 57:32
  Matt Jacob: That didn't work right.
• 57:33
  Matt Jacob: That's the beauty of photography.
• 57:36
  Matt Jacob: We edit all the time.
• 57:37
  Matt Jacob: We edit with selections and there are many photographs.
• 57:41
  Matt Jacob: I didn't have that connection and I didn't put the time in to get to know them and to break the ice and just to be learn how to be empathetic towards them and what they're going through and what their life is like and etc.
• 57:53
  Matt Jacob: Etc.
• 57:53
  Matt Jacob: A lot of the people I photograph either haven't been photographed before or have rarely been photographed.
• 57:59
  Matt Jacob: So there's that whole thing of also getting them used to the camera, what it is and why I'm so interested in them.
• 58:08
  Matt Jacob: 90% of the time they don't understand why I am interested in them.
• 58:12
  Matt Jacob: There's not that connection to to reasoning that, um, you know, someone in the West might be so used to or not.
• 58:23
  Matt Jacob: So, yeah, there's a.
• 58:25
  Matt Jacob: There's a lot that goes into it.
• 58:26
  Matt Jacob: Um, I know, in reality, a lot of the times I do feel rushed and I wish I had more time with these people.
• 58:32
  Matt Jacob: Um, but I take, I take my time on shoots.
• 58:36
  Matt Jacob: I really just if I can.
• 58:39
  Matt Jacob: If I can come out of a week shooting with five images, I'm really happy that's great, and if it takes me two or three days to get that, then I'm more than happy to spend that time.
• 58:50
  Matt Jacob: I'll be frustrated, but I'm happy to to spend that time getting it.
• 58:55
  Gigi de Manio: Amazing, that's incredible.
• 58:58
  Matt Jacob: Well, thank you so much for joining me.
• 59:01
  Matt Jacob: Before we go, I do want to hear kind of what your movements are next, where people can find you, any more books coming out, how you see the next, yeah, gold.
• 59:14
  Matt Jacob: Wait, when's gold?
• 59:16
  Matt Jacob: Is that 50?
• 59:17
  Gigi de Manio: 50.
• 59:18
  Gigi de Manio: I'll be in my walker, I'll just be like, okay, click, yeah, I mean do you do.
• 59:24
  Matt Jacob: You see retirement as a thing, or because you love it, you just want to do it all the time.
• 59:28
  Gigi de Manio: I don't.
• 59:29
  Gigi de Manio: I, I can't imagine retiring.
• 59:31
  Gigi de Manio: I, I don't know.
• 59:33
  Gigi de Manio: I mean I guess I'm gonna have to at some point.
• 59:35
  Gigi de Manio: I don't want to.
• 59:36
  Gigi de Manio: I, I, it's funny, I'm going to have to at some point.
• 59:38
  Gigi de Manio: I don't want to.
• 59:38
  Gigi de Manio: It's funny.
• 59:39
  Gigi de Manio: I mean I'm into this, you know, 25 years already and I literally can't get enough.
• 59:43
  Gigi de Manio: I still feel new, I do.
• 59:46
  Gigi de Manio: I feel like there are still so many people that I want to work with and places I want to travel.
• 59:51
  Gigi de Manio: I love.
• 59:52
  Gigi de Manio: I want to do more destination weddings.
• 59:54
  Gigi de Manio: I really do.
• 59:55
  Gigi de Manio: I mean, now that all my kids are out of the house, you know, once in college tour in New York or working, and so, yeah, I'm in my, my third act.
• 1:00:15
  Gigi de Manio: Ok, what do I want to do now?
• 1:00:15
  Gigi de Manio: And for me it's I want to travel and keep shooting weddings in the most amazing, beautiful places.
• 1:00:17
  Gigi de Manio: Um, I love shooting landscapes too.
• 1:00:18
  Gigi de Manio: So you know, my life is a little quieter now in that regard, um, and the fact that I'm not having to be a mom, you know, doing pickup and drop off still, and some I don't know how I did it.
• 1:00:28
  Gigi de Manio: I don't get it.
• 1:00:29
  Gigi de Manio: I don't know how I did it incredible superhuman I somehow did it.
• 1:00:34
  Gigi de Manio: But I have an incredible husband who is amazing partner and all of that.
• 1:00:39
  Gigi de Manio: We tag teamed it.
• 1:00:40
  Gigi de Manio: So that was great, I'm lucky.
• 1:00:42
  Gigi de Manio: But, um, I don't know what is next.
• 1:00:45
  Gigi de Manio: Just keep going.
• 1:00:46
  Gigi de Manio: I don't want to, I don't want to quit.
• 1:00:48
  Gigi de Manio: I, I literally I'm not about.
• 1:00:50
  Gigi de Manio: You know, if you were to say what's your, you know, five-year goal plan, whatever, I don't know, I, I don't do that.
• 1:00:56
  Gigi de Manio: I live very much in the moment.
• 1:00:58
  Gigi de Manio: It's just what I do.
• 1:01:00
  Matt Jacob: I probably should have a plan, but I don't no, I agree with you and I think it's quite common in with creators and and artists.
• 1:01:08
  Matt Jacob: Um, the amount of photographers I've spoken to and I'm the same I did.
• 1:01:11
  Matt Jacob: You know this.
• 1:01:12
  Matt Jacob: I don't have a five-year plan.
• 1:01:14
  Matt Jacob: I have some goals but I, you know, I don't kind of structure them into something so ornate.
• 1:01:20
  Matt Jacob: Where are your balls, matt?
• 1:01:21
  Matt Jacob: We don't have enough time.
• 1:01:24
  Matt Jacob: Podcast is one of them.
• 1:01:29
  Matt Jacob: I want to shoot more, definitely.
• 1:01:30
  Matt Jacob: Like you know, it's my number one love, and life often gets in the way.
• 1:01:35
  Matt Jacob: I don't do too much commercial stuff, so that's a blessing and a curse.
• 1:01:39
  Matt Jacob: If I did more commercial stuff, it would get me out there doing more, but podcast gets in the way.
• 1:01:46
  Matt Jacob: Other jobs gets in the way, life admin gets in the way.
• 1:01:49
  Matt Jacob: They're not all excuses, but I just want to shoot more.
• 1:01:52
  Matt Jacob: There's so many stories I want to tell and practice.
• 1:01:53
  Matt Jacob: I just want to shoot more.
• 1:01:53
  Matt Jacob: I want to do.
• 1:01:54
  Matt Jacob: There's so many stories I want to tell and practice it.
• 1:01:57
  Matt Jacob: I just want to be better all the time.
• 1:01:59
  Matt Jacob: I think that's the biggest goal and so many creatives' goals.
• 1:02:02
  Matt Jacob: You just said it as well.
• 1:02:04
  Matt Jacob: You know you.
• 1:02:05
  Matt Jacob: Just you feel new in it.
• 1:02:07
  Matt Jacob: Still, you want to keep learning.
• 1:02:08
  Matt Jacob: I know I can do better and I want to do better.
• 1:02:10
  Matt Jacob: One of my big goals actually is to do a book.
• 1:02:13
  Matt Jacob: You know I'm really envious of you and I'm super proud of what you've been able to achieve and so inspirational to you.
• 1:02:21
  Matt Jacob: Know anyone, any photographer, who creates a book, but certainly someone who's done it over 25 years?
• 1:02:26
  Matt Jacob: um, absolutely amazing so yeah that's a, that's a big goal of mine.
• 1:02:30
  Gigi de Manio: But well, you keep on rocking yeah, keep going, you would have it.
• 1:02:34
  Gigi de Manio: You would have an incredible book.
• 1:02:35
  Gigi de Manio: I'm waiting for that one to come out.
• 1:02:37
  Matt Jacob: Let me know all right, thank you.
• 1:02:40
  Matt Jacob: In the meantime, I hope next time in boston I'll I'll give you a shout and see if you're in town.
• 1:02:43
  Matt Jacob: We can grab a coffee I would love that.
• 1:02:45
  Gigi de Manio: Well, matt, thank you so much for inviting me on your podcast.
• 1:02:48
  Gigi de Manio: This is such a pleasure to meet you and speak with you, love your work and I'm gonna to continue following you, for sure.
• 1:03:00
  Matt Jacob: Yeah, absolutely.
• 1:03:01
  Matt Jacob: The pleasure's all mine.
• 1:03:01
  Matt Jacob: Thank you so much for joining me and spend your evening online.
• 1:03:03
  Matt Jacob: And, yeah, keep on being in the moment, keep on doing incredible work and I'll keep a close eye on it.
• 1:03:08
  Gigi de Manio: Thank you, all right, thank you.
• 1:03:10
  Matt Jacob: Thanks Gigi.