When I stood in front of the camera in Shanghai in 2007 with my wife Jiajia, I did not yet realize how deeply this experience was connected to Chinese wedding culture. In China, it has been customary for decades to take wedding photos not on the wedding day itself, but weeks or months beforehand — in full regalia, at breathtaking locations.
Look at the photos here on this page: us in traditional red robes on the Bund, in white wedding dresses against the skyline, laughing and in love in the heat of Shanghai. These pictures were our personal treasure that introduced the wedding – just like for millions of Chinese couples.
I had been living in Shanghai for a year then. Filmmaker, cameraman, photographer — all at once, all in Mandarin. Jiajia and I had just met. When we went to the Bund for the photos, the city was still different. Pudong was only just growing into the sky. Today everything stands twice as high. But the light on the Huangpu remains the same — that soft, slightly hazy gold in the late afternoon.
For them pre-wedding shoots are a status symbol and declaration of love: couples often invest thousands of RMB (up to €10,000 for luxury packages), just for makeup, multiple outfits and professional staging. The entire industry booms with annual revenue exceeding $30 billion – because these photos are not just memories but the centrepiece of the celebration: large canvases, albums, social media feeds.
What impressed me most about the Chinese studios: the production depth. Entire sets are built — a European castle, a Japanese garden, a beach panorama — all under one roof. The lighting technicians work with setups I only knew from film production. Every image is staged like a film scene. This isn’t a snapshot. This is cinema.
Today, as a wedding photographer in Heidelberg, I bring this passion with me: capturing real emotions before the big day arrives. Whether a preparation shoot by the Neckar or a reportage at the castle — I create images that will accompany you forever, just like our Shanghai moments.
What I took away from China: the conviction that wedding photography is not a side job. In China, couples invest more in their photos than in their flowers. That changes expectations — and the results. Today I photograph in a documentary style, not staged. But the care, the love for detail, the understanding of the weight of a single image — that comes from Shanghai.
Chinese wedding photography shows what is possible when you take time for photos: multiple outfits, from the western wedding dress to the traditional red qipao to imaginative costumes. Every pose, every glance, every detail has meaning — carefully composed images that are passed down through families for generations.
For our own photos we had five outfit changes in one day. Red silk in the morning, white wedding dress at noon, fantasy costumes in the afternoon. Each outfit tells a different story. It sounds elaborate — and it is. But it’s precisely this variety that makes Chinese wedding albums so special. Not one look. Not one moment. An entire spectrum.
Shanghai 2007 was the beginning of my journey as a wedding photographer. This experience shaped my perspective forever — for real emotions, for cultural depth, for the magic between two people.
Jiajia and I are married today, have two children and live in Bammental near Heidelberg. The Shanghai photos still hang on the wall. Every time I see them, I remember that heat, that laughter, that city that never sleeps. And why I became a photographer — not for the technology, not for the camera. For moments like these.
In 2007 Jiajia and I stood before the camera in Shanghai ourselves. What began as a personal experience became the foundation of my photographic vision. More about my years in China and the exhibition "China Prophecy" at the New York Skyscraper Museum can be found on my China Photography Portfolio.
Pre-Wedding-Shootings in China are both a status symbol and a declaration of love. The industry booms at over $30 billion annual revenue – because these photos are the centrepiece of every celebration.
What I learned: The Chinese tradition of taking time for wedding photos — weeks before the big day, with multiple outfits and careful staging — sharpened my eye for detail.
Today I bring this passion into every wedding – whether on the Neckar in Heidelberg or at the other end of the world. Capturing real emotions before the big day comes.
