8 Years of This is Reportage: 2025 – Matt Badenoch’s Reportage Award
Joy, emotion, and everything we stand for
Bringing our 8 Years of This is Reportage series right up to date, Matt Badenoch (UK – TiR Profile / website) reminds us exactly what documentary wedding photography is all about: emotion, connection, and the quiet power of truth.
His Reportage Award from 2025 captures a newly married couple moments after becoming married, looking at one another with pure happiness as guests applaud in the background. There’s a beautiful simplicity to it — no grand gestures or dramatic framing, just two people sharing a look that says everything.
It’s the kind of image that makes you smile without even realising it — because it radiates something genuine and universal. There’s nothing forced here, no need for direction or staging. It’s just joy — real, human, and fleeting — frozen by someone who knows exactly when to click.
Why this image feels like the perfect closer
After eight years of Awards, stories, and countless moments shared by photographers around the world, this photograph feels like the perfect note to end on. It distils everything TiR was built to celebrate: emotion over perfection, truth over performance, and connection over convention.
Matt’s work has always carried that sense of empathy and presence — a photographer who feels the moment as much as he documents it. His 2025 Award isn’t just a great image; it’s a reminder of why we all do this — to tell real stories, honestly and beautifully.
It’s been an incredible eight years of This is Reportage, and we couldn’t imagine a better image to represent what the community stands for.
