Lewis Kassel got his start as a photographer capturing New Yorkers in revealing moments on the streets of Manhattan. He would photograph strangers, freeze a fleeting instant in time, and move on.
Kassel has since made his career as a wedding photographer, which is in some ways the same and in others profoundly different. He’s still capturing those little moments, only now, it’s usually the best moments of people’s lives.
Kassel has lived in Hopewell since 1985. His studio, Kassel photography, has moved a few times, starting off in Princeton and finally settling in its current address on Seminary Avenue in 1997. In the front is Kassel’s wedding photography studio. In the back, his wife Doreen makes polymer clay sculptures. The Kassels live upstairs. They have one son, Matt, who is a journalist.
Kassel does mainly event photography. He and professional photographers he hires shoot weddings and bar mitzvahs, birthdays, portraits, and occasionally, corporate portraits. But it’s the weddings that he likes most of all.
“I enjoy the people and I enjoy being a part of it,” Kassel said.
Kassel described his style as photojournalistic.
“Events have stories. They start at a certain point and they end at a certain point. Like a film needs editing, so do photographs. You have to select pictures that when shown to you make sense and tell a story that has a beginning, a middle and an end.”
Some of the stories he puts together are very memorable. It was at a wedding that he took what
he considers today to be one of his best photographs.
“There was one bride who was an entertainer, which I didn’t know going into it. She was sitting at a dias, and suddenly, into the room came a man on a unicycle. He was juggling around the room and my assistant, who was standing behind the bride against a curtain, was watching this as well. He had a flash that was slaved to my camera.
“Suddenly, the unicyclist pulled out a sword and the bride stood up. He handed it to the bride.” The unicyclist set the sword on fire, creating a cloud of smoke, Kassel recalled.
“The bride took the sword and swallowed it. I took the picture,” he said.
The assistant’s flash illuminated the cloud of smoke, creating a spectacular visual effect.
“It was an unbelievable picture,” Kassel said. “It was totally serendipitous.”
Though most brides don’t eat flaming swords, the weddings are just as memorable for the people in them. Kassel said he takes time to get to know clients and put them at ease, mostly by remaining calm amid the stress of wedding preparations.
“People often say they really felt more comfortable having me around than when I wasn’t there,” he said, adding that his style of photography is very unobtrusive.
“After a while, I sort of blend into the background,” he said.
Most weddings go well, but Kassel has shown an ability to remain calm even as events spiral out of control around him.
Kassel recalled one ceremony where the bride and groom were both on their second marriages.
“It was a huge wedding. About 175 to 200 people. What was clear to me was that they didn’t like each other … For the life of me I couldn’t figure out why they were getting married.
“They got to the cake cutting and she hates him so much that she takes the whole cake – she just picks up the whole top layer of the cake they were cutting – and smashes it into his face. He hauls off and hits her and she goes flying backward.
“It was like a hockey game. The benches opened up and the families joined in the fight. I backed up and continued to take pictures.”
The wedding ended with the police arriving to break up the brawl.
Like a true professional, Kassel sent the bride the pictures anyway. But he never heard from her again.
Much more rewarding for Kassel was one wedding that ended on better terms. After sending the 8-by-10s to the bride, he didn’t hear back from her for many years. She never selected the pictures for her album. But 25 years later he got a call. She still had the 8-by-10s. If she put them in order, could he make an album?
He did, and was there to take the photos when the couple renewed their vows.
And that’s what Kassel is talking about when he says he enjoys the people.
“What happens with couples is you meet them and you get involved with them and you become a part of their wedding,” he said. “What I really love about wedding photography is that you’re there for somebody’s best day. You’re supposed to make them happy not only with your presence, but with your abilities and your pictures that reflect the day.”
Kassel Photography is located at 17 Semenary Ave. in Hopewell Borough.
Phone: (609) 658-5814. On the Web: Kasselphoto.com.
Lewis Kassel aims to tell stories with his wedding photographs. (Photo courtesy of Lewis Kassel.)
