San Miguel de Allende, Mexico
New York, NY
Brittany, France
Boston, MA
Amalfi, Italy
Based in Brooklyn, NY, Hope is a documentary wedding photographer who captures celebrations worldwide on film, digital, and Super 8.
I come from a nostalgic family. On both sides, my grandparents were/are trenchant documentarians; I have photographs and videos from the entirety of my maternal grandfather’s life, and on my father’s side, my grandmother has actively made scrapbooks since she got married in 1946 (she’s 95 now, and still scrapbooking!!). These documents are a treasure, and an invaluable source of inspiration to me.
In looking at photos (and super 8 video!) of my ancestors’ weddings, what always strikes me most are the candids. Of course the formal portraits are important, a record of who was present. But in the candids I find something else: a more tangible understanding of the people in the photographs and truer insight into who they were. In other words, I’m able to understand them as real — not just as figures in a frame, but as people who laughed and cried, who danced and told jokes, who loved deeply and fiercely for as long as they lived.
This is why I am a documentary-style wedding photographer. In 25 or 50 years, the posed photos will still be beautiful, but the in-between moments and candids will be priceless. I aim to take photographs that capture who you are and how it felt, so that you can look back and remember fondly — but also so that one day your children and grandchildren can feel it, too.
Hi! I'm Hope, but you can call me hopie.
I truly believe that every aspect of a wedding day is important. Weddings are deeply complex, emotional things — there are moments of transcendent joy, of solemn quietude, of bliss and stress and rapturous love. They are the coming-together of every element of a couple’s life in one day — where every little thing feels celebratory and ceremonious. Every wedding is a story.
I create my best work when I collaborate with couples who aren't afraid of the imperfect and the in-between. They don't hire me to produce staged scenes, but instead trust me to seek out the honest, messy, intimate moments that make up the day.
I invite you to leave behind all preconceptions about wedding photography. When you work with me, should-dos and must-haves don’t exist. My photography is rooted in connection — between you and your partner, your family and friends, and even between you and me. The most amazing photos are taken when you come with open hearts and open minds, and simply lean into who you are.
Above all, I care about how your photographs feel, because it's the feelings that you'll want to relive.
photography is an exercise in trust.
Hear me out!
Weddings are incredible — and I feel absolutely honored I get to photograph them for a living. So wonderful, in fact, that sometimes I feel like I need to quit my job because it's not normal to experience such unfettered love and joy, and plumbing the fathomless depths of human connection every weekend is too much for my heart to handle. I digress.
That said, there is so much pressure on couples to have a perfect day. There is pressure from family, friends, and social media; pressure to look more beautiful than ever; pressure for everything to go smoothly and for the sun to shine.
The good news is that the beauty of weddings lies in their imperfections. I have seen couples get married in the pouring rain, I've seen multi-tier cakes melt in the sun, I've seen red wine spilled on gowns and I've personally sewn a groom's suit pants back together. Your wedding day doesn't have to be the best day of your life in order for it to be wonderful. Remember that your wedding is just the first day of your marriage — the best is yet to come.
YOUR wedding day SHOULDN'T be perfect.
featured in
2027
June – Catskills || Spain
July – Cape Cod
August – Scotland || England
September – Martha's Vineyard
October – Maine
"Having Hope in Austria to photograph our celebration was the single most important thing to us -- and also the best investment we made for ourselves and our memories."
- S & J