8 Years of This is Reportage: 2022 – Valter Antunes’ Story Award
A mother, a camera, and a story of love and persistence
Some Story Awards make you laugh, some move you — and a few do both at once. In 2022, Valter Antunes (Portugal – TiR Profile / website) captured a story that did exactly that: a wonderfully observed sequence featuring the bride’s mother, who spent the entire day filming her daughter’s wedding with her trusty video camera.
From morning preparations to the ceremony and right through to the dance floor, she appears in frame after frame — focused, devoted, and completely absorbed in recording every moment. Through Valter’s lens, her presence becomes a thread that ties the whole day together. What might have been a passing detail transforms into a charming narrative — one that’s heartfelt, humorous, and deeply human.
Each photograph adds another layer to her character: her concentration, her pride, her unwavering dedication to capturing memories of the day. It’s not just a story about a wedding guest — it’s a portrait of motherhood, love, and the instinct to hold on to moments that matter.
Why this Story Award stands out
Valter’s storytelling has always been defined by empathy and observation, and this 2022 Story Award is a perfect example. Rather than simply documenting events, he recognised a subtle visual thread and followed it patiently throughout the day, turning it into a narrative full of warmth and affection.
It’s a beautiful reminder that documentary wedding photography isn’t just about emotion or composition — it’s about noticing. Seeing the small, recurring gestures that reveal who people are. In this case, a mother’s quiet determination to preserve her daughter’s day becomes the heartbeat of the story.
Valter’s sequence makes us smile because it feels true — and that truth is what makes it timeless.
