Photo of the Day


A Photographer’s Fiancée

June 15, 2017

By Libby Peterson

© Tu Nguyen

“This was and still is one of my favorite photos that I’ve ever made, because it was so personal for me,” says Tu Nguyen, a destination wedding photographer based in Köln, Germany, who shoots with his wife, Thuy. “It was her. My fiancée. My future bride. My friend.”

Taken during a road trip that Tu and Thuy took together after getting engaged, this image reminds Tu of “the sogginess of the grass and how smooth the moss was drowning my feet,” he says, “the razor-sharp rain cutting our faces, the cracked wind bending us apart, and the pale sky growing darker and darker.”

For Tu, he says, it reminds him of the flip side of love, how “a romantic affair is not always romantic—it makes us more human beings,” but, he adds, “because of pain we can feel the beauty and freedom of healing. That’s what I felt about this image.”

While Iceland has lush, natural beauty in spades, Tu asserts that he used Photoshop quite liberally (can you guess where?), which he feels just fine about. “For me, photography is not about realism, besides what happens on the wedding day,” he says, “so anyone used to following my work knows that every editing choice of mine is an expressive one. Photoshop is fine, as long as it serves a purpose.”

Check out more Photos of the Day, and email rangefinder@emeraldexpo.com for submissions.