Vincent Po founded Portrait of a Young Couple in early 2020 to document the stories of how people live and love across all backgrounds and identities.
You can read much more about him and why he started the project here.
Image credit: Noah Kalina for The New York Times
Portrait of a Young Couple documents the unvarnished stories of how people of all backgrounds and identities live and love by offering couples free photography on their wedding day in exchange for hosting in their home the week before.
Weddings are one of the few celebrations common across all peoples, no matter their ethnicity, geography, religion, political views, career, educational attainment, or socioeconomic status. Wedding photography is often one of the most important yet expensive parts of planning a wedding, and thus offering to photograph for free and spending meaningful time with a couple, their family, and their friends presents a rare and authentic opportunity to learn about and document their stories.
Vincent Po, a former Electrical Engineer, Venture for America Fellow, and Princeton alum, began documenting couples' stories across the United States in early 2020. He began traveling internationally in early 2022.
FAQs
+ Are you (Vincent) still photographing as part of this project?
Due to personal reasons, I have put traveling + photographing for Portrait of a Young Couple on pause from the end of 2023 to the end of 2024. I plan to resume traveling internationally again in 2025.
If you'd still like me to photograph your wedding in a freelance capacity, please reach out at vincentpo.com/weddings
+ Where are you (Vincent Po) based, and do you photograph internationally?
Home for me is the United States, and yes! I'm currently accepting bookings for weddings anywhere in the world in 2023 and 2024, provided I'm allowed to travel there given COVID-19 restrictions. (I am fully vaccinated and boosted with the Moderna vaccine as of late 2021.)
For privacy, I do not publish my exact travel plans publicly, but if you're interested in having me photograph your wedding please reach out on the Contact page!
+ When you say “free,” what do you mean?
I mean free! It’s enormously important to me that this project tells the stories of people from a diverse range of backgrounds, especially financial. Generous donors and my own freelance photography business help cover all costs associated with this project. If you're willing and able to contribute, though, that is always appreciated.
What I ask for in return is hosting in your own home (unless there are special circumstances for not being able to, like religious reasons) and an extra portion of whatever food is already available for a total of two weeks, whether before or after your wedding. You should also be open to sharing your full story with me, both joyful experiences and painful ones, too.
If you'd like to learn more about my journalistic process, please feel free to reach out on the Contact page.
+ Why, exactly, are you doing this?
Put simply: to learn about how people, who may have backgrounds and worldviews entirely different from my own, live and love, and to share those learnings with the world in the hopes of encouraging us all to view those around us, strangers or friends, with kinder eyes and more understanding hearts.
As to why I'm doing it right now... I've been blessed with a lot of privileges in life; one of them is health, another is a financial ability to take risks, and another is a highly specific and unique skill set to be able to pull this all off. None of these things are guaranteed forever, but since they're true right now, I'd be a fool not to take the opportunity.
You can read much, much more about my story and motivations here.
+ Is there anything in particular you "look for" when selecting couples to participate in the project?
The most important quality that I look for, by far, is a willingness to be open with me and to share your story fully; not just the good and the pretty, but also the painful and ugly. The most "cinematic" story can fall flat if someone isn't willing to share beyond the superficial, and the most "normal" story can touch countless people if it explores those ideas in a deep and thoughtful way.
This project is motivated by a very personal desire to learn about others in a truthful and complete way, not by some kind of hope to "go viral" or "be famous." As such, I'm happy to respect boundaries you may have about allowing me to write publicly about your life; I'm not here to dig out your "drama" in order to use it for my own selfish gains.
But, I hope you'll at least be willing to share openly with me, individually, so that I may learn from your unique experiences.
I promise the same candidness and transparency about my own life in return. If you're curious to know why I think this way, please read my own story here.
+ Do I have to speak English to participate?
Nope! While it's true that most of the couples so far have been fluent in English, it's never been a requirement of mine. Not speaking English may change certain elements of the process, but not so much that we wouldn't be able to work together. Feel free to reach out in your native tongue (woohoo Google Translate) and we'll take it from there!
+ Do I have to be young to participate?
Absolutely not! The name is an allusion to other works of art with similar names, but couples of all ages are welcome to inquire and participate. "Young" is less about one's age, and more their spirit, and the associated feelings of optimism and hope. I've photographed and written about people as young as 18 and as old as 68.
+ Do I have to be hosting a "traditional" wedding to participate?
"Traditional" is an entirely relative term, based on one's own ubpringing in a particular geography or culture, so no! Whether it's an elopment, courthouse wedding, vow renewal, or multi day-long wedding, I'd love to tell your story.
+ How long have you been photographing weddings?
I photographed my first wedding in 2016, and since then have photographed around 100 weddings and done over 500 other kinds of photoshoots. You can view my full photographic portfolio here
+ Do you shoot video, or have a second shooter? Can I have another photographer at my wedding?
While my equipment is capable of shooting video, I do not formally offer any video production services. I simply don't have the necessary technique or software needed to shoot and edit high-quality video.
Additionally, because this project is an individual endeavor, I do not have a second shooter. You are free to have other photographers at your wedding, but in the spirit of providing free wedding photography I will be prioritizing couples who otherwise would not have been able to afford or needed to hire another photographer.
If you’d like to see example galleries of full weddings I’ve photographed as a single shooter, please visit the Contact page to send me a message.
+ What if something unexpected happens before a wedding?
This ventures into more formal legal territory; please reach out for more details or for a sample contract.