Wedded to weddings: Jino and Midhu

On a beautiful September day, Midhu Sreenivas got married to Jino Sam Panayil, at a church in Kottarakkara, according to family traditions with all the rituals. Making peace with Midhu’s family and abiding by their wishes, they had a reception at Midhu’s home in Thrissur. It was not easy convincing the folks on both sides to agree to their marriage. Their religions were different.

So, once they got the families to agree, Midhu and Jino did not want to go against any of their requests on the wedding ceremonies. Left to themselves, the wedding would have been a quiet affair with no religious element. Something like the communist wedding the two had attended and photographed. That’s what they do, they work together as wedding photographers. And then they travel.

It is travel that brought them together in the first place. Midhu was going on a long ride with her uncle to Hampi. So were Jino and his brother. A vagabond mutual friend ‘Satheeshettan’ brought them together. The friendship continued after the trip. Midhu began assisting Jino in his work on documentaries and college photography. She would watch him at work during weddings, slowly detaching himself from the stereotype image of wedding photographers.

“There was this not so great image you had about them. But that has turned ulta now,” Midhu says. They do not take the typical wedding photos of ‘man facing woman’ or a ‘family group photo’ of visitors placed on either side of the bride and groom. Of course, they do take such photos when they are asked to by the couple. But, left on their own, one of them takes care of the events clicking the traditional photos, while the other does the candid photography that has made them popular.

In their collection, you’d see the picture of a groom wink when the bride puts the wedding ring on his finger, another couple pose with their sunglasses, and in a third picture, the bride in a white wedding gown stands against the groom, stretches her right hand out and makes a face like she is wringing his neck. Jino has been working in this field for many years but things got better when Midhu joined him.

For one, they did not need an outsider to come photograph the event, while Jino did his candid photography. And for another, everyone would accept them into their home when they came as a couple.

“Before, I couldn’t go where the women gathered, but with Midhu, she could walk into their home just like a family member.” “They are all excited and encouraging when they see a girl doing this work. There is a lot of consideration coming our way. And we don’t just rush through our work and leave. We sit with them and talk and make them comfortable,” says Midhu.

She had always been interested in photography but it is after getting close to Jino that she has learnt to be a professional. “At first, I had no confidence and I would get many things wrong. We used to rent out equipment until I got a set of my own. And then it got better.” Jino agrees, “She now takes better pictures than I do!” The difference in height also helps. Jino is a lot taller and this lets them take photos from two perspectives. “She would get eye-level pictures and I could take pictures from a higher level.”

In between their work assignments and at times for work, they travel. They make it clear on their website that they will happily travel even to far off locations to photograph weddings, for they love to see new places. They have travelled as far as Punjab to take photographs of a wedding there. “Other than that, we like to go on long bike rides, we frequently take off to Wayanad,” says Midhu. She too rides their beloved Unicorn.

It is Midhu who gives Jino the confidence to try new things, like writing. They have made some wonderful entries on jinoandmidhu.tumblr.com. “But it’s still new.” More of their works are on www.facebook.com/jinoandmidhu.