Bizarre or trending subjects? Catch a break with our curiosity of the week. Could divorce photography be the cynical answer to the success of the wedding industry? The American channel Comedy Central investigated.
In the United States, weddings have become a major industry, with an estimated worth of more than 53 billion dollars, in 2013, according to CNN. Grandiloquent ceremonies, sumptuous locations, and famous photographers, the soon-to-be weds stop at nothing to make an unforgettable experience out of this special day. Yet, in 2018, the CDC estimated that around 50% of all mariages ended in divorces. How can people immortalise this new start in their lives? Could a separation be as celebrated as joyfully as a union?
Here is the subject of the skit released on the American YouTube channel Comedy Central. In this episode, we meet Tom Byrd, a professional divorce photographer, eager to give his clients a memorable memory of their last moments together. Tom is deeply passionate about his job, going back to the scenes of an especially violent fight, inviting the exes’ new lovers at the photoshoot, or even telling the models they could break their wedding photos on camera. And if by chance the couple gets back together? “It does happen, and when it does I’ll capture it”, the photographer explains in the video. “But those photos don’t go on the website. And I charge double”, he adds. A video which, at a time where smartphones and social media are all powerful, invite us to reconsider what is truly worth photographing.
© screenshot from the video Professional Divorce Photographer – Mini-Mocks, available on the YouTube channel Comedy Central
