Note: The Instagram handle shown in this video is outdated. You can find me at @stevenrosenphoto.

There used to be a certain irony to being a gay wedding photographer. While I was always honored to be a part of my clients' wedding day, the fact that I myself couldn't legally marry was not lost on me. Witnessing so many beautiful weddings made me more determined than ever to work with same-sex couples and toward marriage equality.

For years, before marriage was a possibility, I turned my lens toward same-sex couples, creating portraits of loving relationships that deserved to be documented and celebrated. I volunteered with Marriage Equality New York — now Marriage Equality USA — from 2004 onward, photographing their protests and fundraisers and providing images for their campaigns.

Since marriage equality passed in New York State in 2011, and nationally in 2015, I have had the privilege of photographing over 250 same-sex and LGBTQ+ weddings. I have since married my own husband — something I wasn't sure I would ever get to do — and the joy of that experience only deepens the care I bring to every LGBTQ+ couple I photograph. Our community is filled with so many glorious stories of love and commitment that need telling, and I love helping my clients tell them.

There is an art to photographing same-sex couples that differs from photographing straight couples. Traditionally, the bride is the center of attention — but when there are no brides, or when there are two brides, or two grooms, the dynamic shifts entirely. As a gay man, I understand intuitively how LGBTQ+ couples fit together, how they look at each other, and how they move through the world as a couple. When you look at my work, you can tell the people in the photographs are in love.

If you want images that show your love, your passion, and your connection — images made by someone who genuinely understands and celebrates what you have — I'd be honored to be your photographer.