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Trash the Dress: New style of formal dress photography catching on fast
by Gregory R. Norfleet · News · November 20, 2007
Where did you have your wedding picture taken? Outside? A park? Large trees and a small lake in the background?
Would you consider jumping, wedding dress and all, into that lake?
Or would you exchange a stained-glass cathedral for a dark alleyway?
More and more, brides and prom-goers are answering “yes” to two growing trends in professional photography: Trash the Dress and Drown the Gown.
Local photographer Samantha Bender, who with husband Stephen runs Samantha Bender Photography in West Branch, said clients like the contrast of putting once-in-a-lifetime dresses against unusual backgrounds.
“It’s a great way to break traditions of photography and capture unique images,” Bender said.
Photographers are, at times, paid for their creativity, she said.
“You usually don’t work in environments like that,” she said.
The trend names might mislead a bit. Some women have no plans to wear the dress again and don’t want to keep it, so they don’t care if they ruin it to get the picture they want. But Bender said most clients don’t want the dress destroyed and she won’t push them to do so.
“It can always be cleaned, preserved,” she said. “It’s definitely not a point-of-no-return thing.”
Two popular locations are the Coralville Reservoir and the Iowa City Pedestrian Mall. At the reservoir, she said, “we go with the sandy look” or put women in the rocks, grass, trees and water.
“It’s important that they do what they are comfortable with,” Bender said.
At the Ped Mall, high school seniors like the grungy alleys and the urban feel, she said, which reflect what they see on MTV or in magazines.
Bender said most clients are a bit tentative at first, but that’s common with all shoots. After standing, sitting and even laying down for a few photos, they tend to open up and get more excited.
Those who allow themselves to dip into a lake or stream leave a little wet and cold, she said, but most say “that was really fun.”
Many times the woman goes alone, but Bender said she would like to see more men go along. Parents often want reassurances that the dress — which is usually expensive — will remain intact.
At a shoot, Bender has heard passers-by comment on the “pretty bride” or laugh when one runs through the fountain at the Ped Mall.
“I’m not out to ruin anything for anyone,” she said. “It’s about (a client) getting more pictures in something they love and to be in that dress again.”
Trash the Dress has been around for about a year; Drown the Gown has been going for about six months or so.
“It’s caught on quickly,” Bender said, “and they look like models.”
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