Rare Historical Photos That Bring Forgotten Moments Back To Life

It’s hard to list all of Holly Mateer’s accolades. As the co-founder of M&G Wedding Photography, she’s made a name for herself as a trailblazing creative and a leader in the photography industry. Mateer specializes in documentary wedding photography and family photography, and has won several awards for her work.

Among the most recent are the “This Is Reportage International Wedding Photographer Of The Year 2023 & 2024” award and the “UK Wedding Photographer Of The Year 2024," awarded by Masters Of Wedding Photography.

The woman also known as The Wild Child Photographer racked up 14 awards from This Is Reportage last year alone, and was named Number 1 on their Top 100 Photographers in the World 2024 list. So it’s an understatement to say that Bored Panda was thrilled to be able to chat to this phenomenal photographer.

“Photography captures moments in our world and records them for history,” Mateer told us during an enlightening interview. “It may be an amazing event, a famous person, the people in the street or just yourself quietly at home. It may be an elaborately staged or an unposed image. The photograph – whether it's a print or a digital image – will be looked back on and will keep memories alive. It's a window on the world and there's nothing else quite like it.”

"A photograph can also depict things that went unseen at the time: a gesture, an expression, the fall of shadows on a wall," says Mateer, adding that through her unique storytelling approach, she can reveal something new and unexpected to the viewers of her work.

We were curious to know how photography has evolved throughout history. "The norms of photographic portraiture stem from Victorian times when photography began. Then, over 150 years ago, due to the limitations of cameras, portrait subjects would have to sit very still, looking at the camera, for the long exposure time that was needed to capture the image. It was all very formal," revealed Mateer.

"With the advent of small cameras and faster film from the 1930s onwards, another mode of photography, the informal, developed – families could take snapshots of their life. And of course, this also allowed photojournalists to capture images quickly and discreetly 'out in the field.'"

Mateer says that despite the advancement of photography, children are still often conditioned to respond in what she calls ‘a photo way’ – keep still, smile or don't smile, look at the camera – in, for instance, school photographs. Family photos showing a group with two or three generations are still taken, she says, adding that the poses are usually a little more relaxed than in Victorian times.

She says these stoic, put-together poses don't depict family life in a truly authentic way. And that's why she's made a name for herself as a wedding and family photographer who embraces the mess, so to speak...

"There is chaos, there is vibrancy, there is life and movement (a lot of movement – children rarely sit still!). So my photography reflects that and has more similarities to reportage and street photography – I'm not interested in portraits, or posing. For me, that doesn't depict people as they really are."

Mateer tells us that a huge part of what she documents at weddings is also about family. Unless the wedding is an elopement. "I'm always looking to capture those family moments at a wedding. Between parents, siblings, grandparents. I know those family moments are so important – the way I photograph a wedding isn't all about the couple, it's about the whole day and the interaction between people," she says.

"The different sides of my photographic practice overlap – and more often than not, I’m documenting real, unscripted family moments. It's an honor knowing those moments will be so important to my families, to my couples, to their families. They become a family heirloom."

Mateer is a mom herself, so she's fully aware of what daily life is like around children, and how to work with them. "When I photograph a family – my own, or someone else's – I don't pose people or stage an action," she tells Bored Panda. "I don't take portraits. I never ask a child to look at the camera – it takes them out of the moment."

The expert says her aim is to photograph life as it occurs around her and to freeze moments of real family life. "I don't want to stop a child from playing, or stop a family being themselves," said Mateer. "I think documenting real family moments is so important – I know that I want to look back on all those happy moments, fun moments. But the chaotic moments and even some of those sad moments too. It’s all part of being a family."