Gurvir Johal

Gurvir Johal has risen to become one of the world's most sought-after photographers of Asian weddings. He tells Keith Wilson what it's like to be among 400 guests for days, how he developed his eye for detail, and how it felt to be named the best wedding photographer in the UK and Europe...

It's the start of another week at the height of summer, and I'm expecting acclaimed Asian wedding photographer Gurvir Johal to be run off his feet when we speak. As it turns out, that's putting it mildly. Gurvir's schedule leaves me reeling: "I'm in France tomorrow for a wedding on Wednesday and Thursday. I'm home Friday; it's my son's birthday on Saturday, he's going to be two, so as soon as I land in Gatwick on Friday I've got to get back to Birmingham and cover a wedding - a good friend snapped his Achilles heel, so I'm covering as many of his jobs as possible. I'm hoping by August he'll be back to normal, so I'm covering Friday's gig for him, son's birthday on Saturday, wedding again on Sunday."

Is there still such a thing as a wedding season?

There used to be. I've only been photographing weddings for 12 years now, so when I started there was a season, and it generally was May until September. As I've progressed, I've noticed clients are pushing dates back to October and November, and then December becomes pretty quiet. At the beginning of the season, instead of it starting in May, it's now March, maybe February. But it's good. It keeps me active - and during the winter, I can concentrate on my health and burn off the curries I've been eating!

Asian weddings are more like festivals. That's part of the magic, isn't it?

Yeah, even when I got married five years ago, it's a full week with the girls and the cousins, and they all come round and start cooking. In terms of ceremonial aspects that need to be photographed, it's probably two or three days at most.

What are the important times that you need to be there for?

It depends on the client. Within Sikhism, Hinduism, and Muslim weddings, there is a similarities between the different religions, but within those religions there are also sub-cultures and differences.