I'm Mori. I grew up in Taiwan and moved to London in 2022, where I photograph weddings across the UK, France, Italy and Greece. From now on I'm back in Taiwan for part of every year, and I take on a small number of couples while I'm there.
Most of the people who book me for Taiwan don't live in Taiwan. They're international, they ‘re coming back.
If your life is spread across two places
You grew up in Taipei and now you're in London, or New York, or Paris. You're getting married abroad but your grandmother isn't going to fly. One of you is Taiwanese and the other has been to Taiwan twice and mostly remembers the food.
Whatever the version, the trip home is doing a lot of work. It's the wedding photographs, but it's also the very rare time everyone will be in the same house. I shoot it accordingly.
If you're visiting Taiwan for a fortnight and want good photographs of the two of you, that's fine too, and I'll say so on the pricing page rather than pretending it's the same thing.
couples photoshoot in Taiwan beachside
Not a studio, and not trying to be
Taiwan does fantastic studio pre-wedding. Two thousand gowns, a stylist, a driver, four locations before lunch, and the results are genuinely beautiful. If that's the experience you want, book it. Some of my couples do both: a studio day for the traditional set, then a day with me for everything else.
What I do runs differently. No crew, no rail of dresses, no shot list to get through. It's the two of you and one person with a camera, walking around somewhere you chose. I'll direct you when you need it and stop when you don't, and about a third of what I keep is from the gaps between the photographs I was supposed to be taking.
Wear the dress if you want the dress. Plenty of couples turn up in jeans.
The location most photographers won't take you to
Every Taiwan photoshoot guide lists the same seven places. They're on that list because they're beautiful and because they're a short drive from Taipei, which matters a lot when there's a van and a stylist involved.
The shoots I like best are usually somewhere else. Your parents' flat, with the plastic stools and the tiled floor. The 早餐店 you went to before school every day for six years. Your grandparents' house in Yunlin. The stretch of Keelung coast your family drove to every summer. The university corridor where you first spoke to each other.
None of it photographs like Jiufen at dusk. That's sort of the point. In fifteen years you'll have a thousand pictures of Taipei 101 and none of the breakfast shop, which will have closed by then.
I grew up here, so you don't have to explain any of it to me, and I'm not going to charge you a travel supplement for leaving Taipei.
Pre-wedding photoshoot in Taiwan]
Where else we can shoot
Taipei and New Taipei. Dadaocheng and Dihua Street early, before the shops open and while the light is still coming down the alleys sideways. Beitou for the Japanese-era bathhouses. Tamsui in the evening. Any neighbourhood you have a reason to be in.
Jiufen and the northeast coast. Worth the trip, with caveats: it's heaving at weekends and the good light lasts about forty minutes. Go on a Tuesday, arrive late, and pair it with the coast road towards Bitou or Shifen so the day isn't built around one street.
Yangmingshan. Cherry blossom in February, calla lilies in March, silver grass in October. Fog most mornings, which I like and some people don't.
Hualien and Taroko. Marble gorge and the Pacific. It's a full day with the train, and I'd rather do it properly than rush it.
Tainan and the south. Older temples, slower streets, better light in winter than anywhere in the north.
Weddings and banquets
If you're getting married in Taiwan, or you've married abroad and you're holding a 歸寧宴 or a reception here afterwards, I photograph the whole day the same way I photograph a London wedding. Documentary, quiet, no long list of group formations beyond the ones your family actually cares about.
I know how a Taiwanese banquet runs. The room changes, the outfit changes, the toast at every table, the bit where nobody knows what's happening for twenty minutes. I'm not going to be standing in the corner waiting for someone to tell me in English.
English, Mandarin, or a mix
Enquire in either. Calls in either. On the day I'll switch depending on who I'm talking to, which in practice means English with you and your partner while Mandarin with your mum, the venue and the driver.
If one of you doesn't read Chinese, you shouldn't have to be the couple where one person handles all the logistics.
How it works
Send me your dates. Rough is fine. I'm only in Taiwan part of the year so the first thing I'll tell you is whether I'm there.
We talk about what you want it to feel like. Locations come after that. If you have somewhere personal in mind, bring it up early so I can work out the light and the timing.
Questions
When are you in Taiwan?
The dates change year to year. If your trip falls outside them, tell me anyway and I'll let you know when the next set is confirmed.
Do you speak Mandarin?
It's my first language. I grew up in Taiwan and moved to London in 2022.
Is this the same as a 婚紗 package?
No. Studios provide gowns, styling, hair and makeup, a crew and a set structure, and they do it well. I provide one photographer and a day. Different products, different prices, and some couples book both.
Will you shoot outside Taipei?
Yes, and travel is included. Hualien, Tainan, Yilan, your grandparents' town. I'd rather you picked the place than the postcode.
What if it rains?
It will. Taiwan is humid and typhoon season runs roughly July to September. Light rain is fine and often better than flat sunshine. For a typhoon we'll look at the forecast and move to another day in your trip.
How far ahead should we book?
As early as you can, because there are only so many days（好日子！）. Send me your dates before you've decided anything else.
Do you shoot internationally too?
UK is where I live and where most of my work is. I also travel around Europe and the US for destination shoot.
If you're thinking about a wedding photoshoot in London, get in touch below.
