Jakob

We first met Jakob at 8:00 AM on the morning of our wedding. It might seem odd that the only guest at our wedding was a complete stranger, but in many ways it makes sense. Jakob was our photographer. He is the co-founder of Nordica Photography, a Stockholm based partnership which specializes not in wedding photography but in capturing the stories of couples getting married. We had no clue about Jakob’s personality or appearance, but when he walked in to first meet us at Hotel Búðir, we recognized him instantly and felt comfortable in his presence.

Two hours later I was putting on my wedding dress and putting on my hair and make up while he clicked away on his cameras. Jamie was dressing in a separate room across the hotel, meaning that Jakob was running to and fro trying to capture both scenes as they unfolded. Our ceremony was at noon, giving us little time to prepare. Jamie of course put on his suit quickly and went downstairs to handle things with Páll Ágúst. I on the other hand struggled to do my own hair and make up in front of a tiny mirror without proper lighting. I was so focused on my task that I barely noticed Jakob hovering about, sometimes standing in the shower poking his lens out and who knows where else. On top of his constant shooting Jakob also played the role of sentry as Jamie needed to go in and out multiple times and various staff came to help. The entire morning I could catch the smiles coming off Jakob’s face as he snapped a particularly good shot or as he noticed a humorous quirk that had just taken place. At one point I had asked Jakob the time to which he responded that it was thirteen minutes to noon. He then laughed as I took my needle and thread and started sewing on two buttons not yet on my shrug. By the time I was ready for the ceremony I felt calm and relaxed around him though I can be camera shy sometimes.

As Jamie and I walked the path to the church the wind thrashed our little umbrella and blew cold rain on our backs, Jakob was running first ahead and then behind in his rain jacket snapping away with his shutter. As we approached the church, he zoomed passed us and barricaded himself behind the church door awaiting our entry. Jamie sat down the umbrella and grabbed the handle to the church door slowly pushing it open for me—only, Jakob blocked the door and stuck his head out, bit his lip, and then said, “Two more minutes.” Jamie and I both had a look of disbelief as we stood in the pouring rain with Jakob blocking the door. We would later learn that we had caught Páll Ágúst by surprise by showing up on time to our own wedding and that he needed to light the candles and put on his robes. Two minutes later Jakob cracked the door open and gave us the okay. We looked into each other’s eyes, took a breath, and this time the door opened smoothly. Jamie and I were completely in our bubble and felt safe and comfortable in the empty church as Jakob fluttered about getting shots from every angle.

Confined to the hotel by the rain, we spent the afternoon having lunch and unwrapping a metric ton of cards as Jakob documented each move, each tear and each laugh. His smile grew especially bright as we unwrapped a bottle of bubbles lovingly sent by my aunt and uncle Otto & Christa. Immediately Jakob had us blowing bubbles at each other and his shutter went in overdrive. It was a fun moment while we waited for the rain to let off so we could shoot photos in the countryside. By four o’clock the rain had tapered off though the low line clouds lingered close to the ground. The three of us sat about in the car to various places in the Snaefellsnes peninsula. Jakob let us up a mountain road and just as the clouds became the thickest he had Jamie stop the car. As we got out of the car Jakob pointed at a far away outcropping and asked if we could climb our way through the lava and moss to the very top of the mound. This would be the first of many climbing expeditions Jakob would send us on throughout the evening. The only instructions he gave as we climbed out into the field were, “Try not to fall.” Once we found our spot Jakob followed up his instructions with, “Good. Now chill out there for a bit.” Jamie and I stood on our mound giggling, and kissing, and hugging, trying to do everything we could not to freeze. After a couple of minutes Jakob seemed satisfied and gave us a big thumbs up before asking if we could climb to the taller, rockier mound just beside us.

We spent the rest of the afternoon and quite a bit of the evening following similar direction from Jakob as we traveled from place to place around the peninsula. The beautiful thing is that Jakob’s instructions were so minimal and so direct that we knew exactly what he wanted from us without having to tense up or worry about posing. Jamie and I both later commented about the skill of his direction and how we sometimes wish musicians could take such a direct approach. We went for an adventure and were all up for it. Though we tried our hardest we could not find a sunset at the end of the day so instead we squeezed out as many shots as we could before heading back to the hotel and sharing a few drinks together to celebrate and unwind.

Early the next morning we saw Jakob off on his way to catch a flight to Toronto. We were sad to see him leave because it meant that the wedding had truly passed but also because we felt so lucky to share our day with Jakob. We were extremely lucky that we were able to book his time but also that we were able to book someone who is so kind, sensitive and extremely professional.

Jamie and I will always be fond of our wedding memories and those of Jakob standing in his green coat and muddied shoes with cameras hanging from both shoulders. Jakob—badass photographer.