About Gavin Chapman A Wedding Photographer in Bordeaux & SW France
I’m Gavin, a British wedding photographer living in Bordeaux with my wife Julie, our twin boys, and Scooter the French bulldog, who is convinced he runs the house.
Family matters to me. Photography is how I support the people I care about most, and that sense of responsibility shapes how I work. When couples trust me with their wedding day, I take that seriously and give it my full attention.
People often describe me as reassuring, warm, and easy to be around. I’m with you for the whole day, from the first quiet moments through to the last dance, so feeling comfortable together matters. My role is to support the flow of the day, not to dominate it.
If you would like to see how that translates into photographs, the homepage gives a good sense of how I work.
Scooter, the real boss of the house
A Life of Photography & Travel
Photography first hooked me in my twenties at London Zoo, in the butterfly enclosure. My small Sony camera could not keep up, and I left frustrated that I had missed what I was seeing. I bought my first DSLR, went back, and finally made the photograph I had imagined. That single moment turned into a long-term obsession.
Since then, I have photographed models in London studios, food markets in India, street life in Hong Kong, and reflections of the Eiffel Tower in Paris puddles. Along the way, I have collected more cameras than I care to admit and built up a freezer drawer full of film that is probably worth more than it should be. Some people stock ice cream. I stock Kodak Portra.
Travel photography has shaped how I see light, colour, and timing, and that way of seeing feeds directly into how I photograph weddings.
I share more about life in France and photographing weddings here on the blog.
Why Weddings
What I enjoy most about weddings is the focus. For a day, everything else falls away and everyone is there for the same reason. That shared sense of purpose creates an atmosphere that never quite repeats itself.
Weddings move quickly. The light changes, emotions shift, and moments appear without warning. Nothing can be staged or replayed. That unpredictability is what makes the photographs meaningful. When couples look back, they are not just seeing how their wedding looked, but being reminded of how it felt to be there.
Before photographing weddings, I worked in roles that required reading people, managing pressure, and knowing when to step in and when to stay out of the way. Those instincts carry straight through into how I work on a wedding day and allow things to flow without drawing attention to the process.
You can see more of my work over on the portfolio.
Travel photography has always shaped how I see light and colour — which feeds into how I photograph weddings.
Film Photography
Film is an important part of how I see and work.
I do not use it at every wedding, but I often bring it in when it fits. It encourages patience, attention, and restraint, and it has a way of rendering light and texture that feels different to digital. Even when I am shooting digitally, the discipline of film shapes my decisions.
I enjoy the process. The cameras, the materials, and the ritual of it all. It is part of who I am, and it quietly feeds into how I photograph weddings without ever becoming the focus of the day.
Some people stock ice cream. I stock Kodak Portra.
Contact me.
Gavin Chapman · Wedding Photographer in France
I’m based in Bordeaux and photograph weddings across the Dordogne, Charente, Lot-et-Garonne and throughout France.
I work mainly with English-speaking couples from the UK, US, Australia, Ireland and beyond — people who want beautifulful photographs of themselves and the people who matter most, on the day that matters most.
Available across France and Europe.
I’d love to hear what you’re planning.