This is the Day

At weddings, trusty camera in hand, Stephen McKenzie enters a zone of sorts, a place from which he instinctively captures all the magic: the cheers and tears, the high jinx, the high anxiety, the indulgence, the over indulgence. Candid. Honest. Only then, he says, can pictures really tell 1000 words.

Stephen should know; as the man behind Melbourne Weekly Magazine's Decent Exposure, a quirky, fly-on-the-wall marriage of words and social photos, the former features writer has covered hundreds of Melbourne's most lavish soirees beyond the red carpet. Mostly candid. Always honest.

When punch-lines are thrown, when friends hug, when bridesmaids stare enviably at brides, when grooms settle nerves with shots, when in-laws teeter on the brink of madness (and they do), Stephen is generally there. Not that you'd know it. And whilst he understands the need for formal shots, he has a knack for ironing out any stiffness.

Stephen is committed to capturing vivid, real life documents of couples' big days, even when those days clash with his beloved Tigers' games - which wasn't such a big deal when they were useless, but you've gotta say, they're showing some real spirit now, and ...

Sorry to digress. The site is named after a track on 1983 The The album Soul Mining: "This is the day, your life will surely change. This is the day, when things fall into place." With Stephen on board, photography wise, things will.