Maine and Arjo have tied the knot just a few days ago, but we are still reeling over their fun-filled photoshoot reflecting their love story
When love suddenly catches you off guard, there is no other way to remember it but through memory. Lucky are those whose special moments are immortalized through captured images, having a physical manifestation of their shared affection and care for one another. Indeed, in this lifetime, Maine Mendoza and Arjo Atayde are one lucky couple.
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Before the wedding, Team Pearl Studio, headed by Jaja Samaniego, flew to the US with the duo to freeze their memories at some spots in Las Vegas and Los Angeles. In an exclusive interview with MEGA Entertainment, the photographer takes us back to the time the TV personality and actor made their love the subject in their frozen moments before the wedding.
Love as the subject
“Their prenup shoot was, to put it simply, as real as it gets,” the fine art wedding photographer described. “Arjo and Maine, being celebrities, are not new to being in front of the camera. It’s part of what they do after all. [But] I knew they’re looking for photographs that aren’t for a magazine cover. They want photos that would remind them that, ‘This was us.’ More than a prenup shoot, [it is] an experience they can cherish forever.”
When asked about what the team wanted to show in their photos, Samaniego simply answered, “That love is love.” Adding to this, she explained, “That love is love. Whether you’re a celebrity or a normal person, it’s really a magical thing to witness and capture. Grabe lang the chemistry between Arjo and Maine. They’re so madly in love with each other and we couldn’t be more grateful to be trusted to capture their intimate selves.”
In the subject of the craft
For more than 10 years, Jaja Samaniego has been mastering the art of storytelling through the camera in her hand. Her past works attest to the level of intimacy that she involves in each shot without forced connection or intrusion from her subjects. “I love taking classic portraits, as well making sure that there’s a good balance of composed and candid images to tell a couple’s story,” she pointed out.
As an artist, she attributes her craft to dance. It takes a balancing act of intuition and instruction on her part to take priceless and timeless memories for her clients. The art has its own challenges with the weather as one of the contributing factors to the turnout of photos. But beyond this, Jaja needed her subjects to have room for their own creativity and spontaneity. “I find it important because I really love capturing those little in-between moments,” she emphasized.
Concluding the interview with their team’s philosophy, Pearl Studio’s creative consultant summed up their approach to their project, including Maine and Arjo’s. “Central to what I and my team Pearl Studio believe, [it] is the idea of capturing moments that exude effortlessness and subtle sense of elegance. It’s what guided us to capture Arjo and Maine up close in a manner both natural and sophisticated at the same time, and it’s the same instinct we bring to each and every couple we’ve worked with in the past and will be working with in the future.”
Photos: PEARL STUDIO
