Not only is the book a six-page well feature in il Venerdi this week, but four of my exhibition prints are on the wall at La Forma del Ritratto in Pavia, Italy. Below is a translation of the original article by Maurizio Fiorino.
“Many years ago, a friend asked the American photographer Angela Cappetta to capture her wedding. Since then, the artist has never stopped: «I’m interested in it as a form of social theater. A community takes shape, with its own codes and its own moments of abandon.»
“I never thought that photographing a wedding should be anything other than what it was: something I loved,” clarifies photographer Angela Cappetta. With We Are Gathered Here—a volume being released by L’Artiere—she revisits over a decade of photographs taken during ceremonies and receptions, presenting a world that already feels distant today. It is a world, to be clear, from before guests had the habit of viewing everything through the screen of a phone. But, since this is a story within a story, let’s start at the beginning: with Sharon, a friend of Cappetta’s who, years ago, got married and entrusted her with the task of capturing the wedding—giving her carte blanche. “An incredible opportunity to let loose among people who were uninhibited, spontaneous, and eccentric. A gift that only a long-time friend could give to a photographer,” she recalls.
In truth, Cappetta had long wondered why she had never seen “an auteur-driven photographic project dedicated to weddings that was truly sustained—something capable of going beyond just a few successful images here and there.”
A wedding, after all, offers a rare opportunity: the chance to enter a deeply personal space with a camera, where people are willing to be observed. “It’s this collective dimension that interests me—the wedding as a social theater,” she observes, describing a ritual where relatives who haven’t seen each other for years, friends from different walks of life, and various generations all find themselves under the same roof.
“The attire, the gestures, the poses, and the small, performative displays take on a particular intensity.” "The way people signal who they are and which world they belong to is amplified through excess and spectacle," explains the New York-based photographer. Through the use of flash and film, these dynamics—
82 | il venerdì | OCTOBER 30, 2026
• We Are Gathered Here
Angela Cappetta, author of the book We Are Gathered Here (L'Artiere, 128 pages, 55 euros)
—are crystallized into images that reveal far more than just the bride and groom: "I am referring to that temporary community—with its own codes, contradictions, and moments of abandon—that constitutes a wedding."
Yet, there is another element that becomes even more apparent when looking at these photographs: the absence of smartphones. As you flip through the book, you realize that Cappetta’s work captures a time when people participated in celebrations without simultaneously feeling the need to document their own presence. This does not necessarily mean that everything was more authentic back then, but rather that something has shifted in how we experience shared moments. "In the past, we didn't have other mechanisms for dealing with things; the celebration itself was our way of doing so," the artist observes. While she appreciates that phones have made photography accessible to everyone, she also senses a contradiction: "People have become obsessed with numbing themselves and disconnecting." In this regard, one particular incident from recent years has stayed with her.
At the event she worked on, guests were required to hand over their phones upon entry; the devices were placed in special pouches that were unlocked only when leaving—much like the practice in some theaters. "It was incredible," she recounts. "It reminded me of what taking photographs used to be like."
Without screens coming between them, the guests returned to looking each other in the eye, connecting, and becoming fully immersed in the celebration. And all of this, Cappetta notes, was visible in the photographs.
This shift also extends to the very concept of beauty: moving away from the flawless, instantly shareable images designed to circulate on social media, the wedding setting makes room for spontaneity, imperfections, and "those unpredictable moments when something authentic emerges, unplanned."
Even the title, We Are Gathered Here—evoking the phrase often used to open a wedding ceremony—takes on a meaning that transcends the wedding itself. "What does it mean to come together, especially when we aren't the ones choosing everyone with whom we share a space?" the photographer asks. It is a question to which she does not attempt to provide a sentimental answer. Ultimately, for her, transforming years of professional assignments into a book meant revisiting those rooms, reconnecting with the people, and reflecting on what remains of an experience once it has come to an end.
During the final editing process, while she had the contact sheets from a wedding spread out on her desk, she unexpectedly received an email from a bride who was reaching out to her after twenty years. It was an unforeseen coincidence—a reminder that photographs continue to live on, long after the moment they were taken. “An image can remain silent for years and then, suddenly, return to become part of someone’s life. Isn’t that wonderful?””
Maurizio Fiorino
OCTOBER 30, 2026 | il venerdì | 83
