Ordine della Giarrettiera, the Order of the Garter, is a partnership of two photographers, Antonella Argirò and Alice Demontis, who founded it together and still photograph its weddings. The name borrows the garter, the most traditional of wedding symbols, and the old English order of chivalry. They came to weddings from portrait and documentary work for magazines, and their wedding page says they have now spent more than fifteen years photographing couples who would rather not pose or be the centre of attention.
Their method is reportage with what they call a gentle guide. They describe themselves as two kind ninjas: they enter the getting-ready rooms on tiptoe, follow the couple rather than the other way round, and catch the day as it happens, with a little irony. There are no staged kidnaps of the couple for a portrait session. Posed family and group photographs are taken when asked for, kept light and without forced smiles, and their FAQ says they use Canon, Nikon and Sony cameras.
“Se non ami le pose plastiche, sei nel posto giusto!”
Ordine della Giarrettiera
A typical wedding is covered by two photographers for about ten hours, which they say gives two different but harmonious points of view. Smaller or shorter weddings may need only one, and some call for three. They take a limited number of commissions each year. They have no fixed studio, so couples meet them in a bistro or by WhatsApp, Meet or Skype video call, and the date is secured with a contract and a deposit.
Milan and Brianza are home, and they work mainly in Lombardy and northern Italy, with Cagliari as a second home. Their published weddings include villas such as Villa Semenza, Villa Clerici and Villa Castelbarco, Lake Como, the Convento dell'Annunciata at Medole and Franciacorta, as well as weddings on Isola d'Elba, in Sicily, on Lampedusa and at Chia in Sardinia. Several are civil unions, and their stories include a Hindu wedding in Como and an Italian and Jordanian wedding at Villa Semenza.
After the wedding they choose and edit around 500 photographs, delivered in high and low resolution, two months after a low-season wedding and up to four or five months in high season. They do not hand over RAW files. The story can then be kept in boxes, albums, prints or books, and they suggest deciding on prints calmly once the photographs have arrived. Wedding video is available through Costanza, the videographer they work with.
