Faces of China

上海 shàng hǎi

By Metrophoto

It’s truly impressive what a talented photographer can achieve in a mere six days. The wide-ranging themes of these shots, from Shanghai’s futuristic skyline to the ancient town of Lijiang and even the unique Tibetan culture in Shangri-La, have blown us away. The richness that comes from combining culture and fashion photography will make you kiss goodbye to old school wedding photos. We speak to Oly from Metrophoto, as well as the bride, Kam, about these portraits and the amazing wardrobe.

Do you have prior experience in fashion photography or photojournalism?

Oly: I love creating impactful photographs and a lot of those are found in fashion photography and photojournalism. Wedding photography is my first love, but my style has evolved and elements of fashion photography and photojournalism are often infused to create the photos that I take today.

Do you direct your couples or do they simply have a natural flair for photos?

Oly: It’s always a combination of both. I direct the spots and angles, and sometimes provide high-level instructions like what emotions to convey, and then I leave them to do their thing. Some photos require more direction so it depends. But the vision for the frame always starts with me.

Tell us about this rooftop photo that you took.

Oly: Pictures like these are Metrophoto’s signature style. When I met Kam and Lewis to discuss their pre-wedding shoot, we knew that we had to shoot the famed Shanghai skyline. Kam researched potential locations and we ended up getting the chance to shoot on this rooftop. I must admit that while most of my clients are quite bold, Kam and Lewis were among the bravest. I was more nervous than they were for this shot!

丽江 lì jiāng

Did you engage a stylist for the wardrobe? It looks amazing!

Kam: Yes, we worked with the Manila-based stylist Adrianne Concepcion, who chose our outfits based on the location photos we provided during our initial meeting. For the formal layouts in Shanghai, we wore clothes made by the Filipino fashion designer Francis Libiran, who also designed our wedding day outfits. For the shoots in Lijiang and Shangri-La, we wore mostly high street brands that had been selected by Adrianne, in patterns and colours that were specifically chosen to contrast and/or complement those scenes.

Were the final results everything that you expected?

Kam: One can’t help but have high expectations when working with as creative a photographer as Oly Ruiz. We had an idea of the look and feel that we hoped to achieve, but the final results certainly exceeded our expectations. The beautiful locations in China, our stylist, the makeup artist, and of course Oly’s vision all came together to create this very exciting and aesthetically stunning set of photos that we will treasure for years to come.

香格 里拉 xiāng gé lǐ lā