About Us
When the NME Awards Tour came to Cardiff in February 2011, neither of us expected to come away having met someone we'd eventually think about going into business with, or more importantly, become such good friends with. Simon was amazed by Polly's business card and had nothing to give back in return, so spent the remainder of the headline band's set wondering if it would be a bit stupid to write his details on a scrappy piece of paper. Stupid or not, he did it, and after years of collaboration and advice, we’ve decided to combine our skills.
In these two years our work has taken us around the UK for some lovely weddings, tours, research trips and the occasional all-you-can eat buffet. As much as we enjoy living in South Wales, we love to work around the country whenever the opportunity arises (and hey, why limit ourselves to the UK?).
Polly seems to have grown an extra limb that looks strangely like a camera. Her work has recently been found in NME, Premier Guitar, most UK newspapers, and several international ones. She also won the 2011 Amgueddfa Cymru National Museum Wales Photographic Portrait Commission, which saw her photograph world-renowned fashion designer Julien MacDonald in collaboration with the National Portrait Gallery. She has experience in both photojournalism and portraiture among other genres, and while she loves shooting weddings in a candid style to capture natural moments in a way that beautifully tells the story of your day, she is also thrilled at the idea of photographing gorgeous newlywed portraits.
Like Polly, Simon can often be found photographing bands in Cardiff and the surrounding areas, and loves to shoot roller derby whenever the Tiger Bay Brawlers have a home bout. He regularly contributes work to Buzz Magazine in Cardiff and his photos have appeared on album covers, and in NME, Rock Sound, the Guardian G2 supplement, and a book about the Style Council that was so long ago he can't remember the name of it!
Polly loves cats, Icelandic landscapes and music, while Simon loves the rest of Scandinavia, playing basketball , and wasabi peas. We are united in our like for many things, but also our controversial dislike for tea.
If you are planning your wedding to reflect your own style and personality with a fine attention to detail, and would like it captured in a way that mixes photographic disciplines to create a collection of photographs which tell the story of your day, then please get in touch!
We believe that a big factor in the quality of wedding photography is the relationship between the couple and their photographers. We always like to meet up with you before your day, in order to not only discuss the plans face-to-face, but also to begin to develop our working relationship. It’s not a myth that you will probably spend more time with us on your wedding day than with each other!
With that said, we feel that it’s important that you know a little about us…
So, who are we?
We are Polly Thomas and Simon Ayre, and we love telling stories through photographs.
Polly is a big fan of animals, Radiohead, and Icelandic landscapes. Besides weddings, her work has recently seen her photograph the northern lights over Wales, official visits by royalty, promotional shots for theatre productions, and some of the best gigs she’s ever experienced (and there have been a lot!). Her work has been featured in both UK and international magazines and newspapers, as well as on album artwork for artists in the Welsh music scene. After graduating university, she was awarded the 2011 National Museum Wales Photographic Portrait Commission which saw her photograph fashion designer Julien MacDonald in collaboration with the National Portrait Gallery.
Like Polly, Simon photographs a wide variety of things including music, portraits, and roller derby. Recent highlights have included album covers for Cardiff-based artists such as The School and Samoans, and he has particularly enjoyed being involved in the BBC Horizons / Gorwelion project which showcases twelve unsigned artists to new and wider audiences. His work has appeared in places such as NME, Rock Sound, and The Guardian. Simon enjoys playing basketball and badminton, and has had a bit of a soft spot for Scandinavia since he was a boy.
The two of us first met in February 2011 at a gig, when we were both photographing the Cardiff leg of the NME Awards Tour. That chance meeting led to us becoming close friends, and developed into a decision to partner up to photograph weddings.
Since then our work has taken us all around the UK for some lovely weddings, location scouting trips, and the occasional all-you-can-eat buffet. Despite being based in South Wales, we love to work around the country whenever the opportunity arises (and hey, let's not limit ourselves to just the UK!).
When you book us, you get a team. We don’t work as a first shooter and second shooter, we work equally to ensure that your day gets the quality of photos it deserves.
If you are planning your wedding to reflect your own style and personality with a fine attention to detail, and would like it captured in a way that mixes photographic disciplines to create a collection of photographs which tell the story of your unique day, then please get in touch, we'd love to hear from you!