CJ Studios
CJ Studios
Galleries / Couples portraits at the New York Public Library
New York City · Post-wedding couples portraits

NYC Couples Portraits at the New York Public Library

New York can feel wonderfully still for a moment, even with people moving all around you. For this post-wedding couples photoshoot, CJ Studios photographed the pair at the New York Public Library's Stephen A. Schwarzman Building. Marble stairs, repeating arches and tall windows gave the session its structure; laughter, quiet embraces and a little movement made it theirs. The resulting edit moves between generous architectural views and close portraits. It also offers inspiration for couples planning an NYC engagement photoshoot, while telling the story of this particular session after the wedding.

Let’s talk→
Bride in a lace dress and groom in a dark suit walking hand in hand down large stone stairs in front of classical columns and arched doors, warm interior light behind them.
Black-and-white portrait of a bride and groom in close embrace, leaning their foreheads together in a grand stone hall with soft window light.
Bride and groom walking together through an exhibition corridor at the New York Public Library, lined with artwork displays.
Bride and groom smiling close together indoors by tall stone columns and an arched doorway, warm soft light, intimate candid portrait.
Couple sharing an intimate moment at a balcony railing inside the New York Public Library, with warm window light.
Wedding couple in coordinated attire walking together on a grand marble stair landing inside a stone building, framed by banisters and columns.
Black-and-white wedding portrait of a bride and groom walking down a grand staircase inside a large stone building, framed by railings and architectural columns.
Overhead view of a couple in formal attire on a stone-tiled floor inside a grand building, with a decorative arched doorway in the background.
Black-and-white photo of a bride and groom walking together under a glowing hanging lantern inside a stone-arched building.
Couple kissing in a dark, moody interior with stone walls and text panels behind them; the bride wears a white lace dress and the groom wears a black suit and kippah.
Black-and-white intimate close-up of a bride and groom embracing, smiling and leaning into each other during the celebration.
Bride and groom holding hands in a grand stone interior, framed by bright backlit windows through a doorway.
Black-and-white wedding portrait of a couple holding hands walking down a long corridor with repeating overhead lights and reflective floor.
Close, warm-lit portrait of a bride and groom embracing and smiling in an indoor venue.
Wedding couple laughing and embracing in a bright marble corridor, bride in a white lace dress and groom in a dark suit and cap.
Black-and-white wedding candid: bride leaning out from a phone booth while the groom stands beside her, both smiling, with a “PUBLIC TELEPHONES” sign overhead.
Bride in a white lace dress smiling while holding a vintage telephone receiver at the New York Public Library.
Groom in a black tuxedo smiling while holding a vintage telephone receiver at the New York Public Library.
Bride and groom walking closely together inside a grand stone archway corridor under a warm overhead light.
Silhouetted couple facing one another at the New York Public Library, framed by a tall arched window and warm stonework.
Wedding couple in a close embrace posing in a grand marble hall, backlit by bright window light.
Black-and-white photo of a bride and groom walking together indoors in a hallway, with motion blur in the background and a softly smiling, side-profile moment.
Wedding couple in warm golden light kissing in an elegant stone corridor, bride in lace dress and groom in tuxedo embracing closely.
Black-and-white wedding photo of a bride and groom holding hands inside a stone archway corridor, looking at each other under a bright central light.
Bride and groom share an intimate kiss in a warmly lit arched corridor with a glowing chandelier and tall window behind them.
Black and white wedding portrait of a couple walking hand-in-hand toward a bright arched window inside a grand hall.
Black-and-white wedding photo of a bride and groom sharing a kiss while walking in a long arched corridor, with chandelier lights and softly blurred guests behind them.
Bride and groom kissing in a warm-lit grand stair hall with marble arches and a chandelier in the foreground.
Black-and-white wedding portrait of a couple on an ornate balcony, leaning in close and sharing a quiet embrace, with architectural details in the foreground.
Bride and groom in matching formalwear standing by a cream stone archway, facing each other and looking up with a celebratory gesture.
Bride and groom in a close embrace, her cheek against his, both smiling in front of a cream stone wall backdrop

Let the architecture frame the connection A little room around the two of you.

The library's marble corridors, staircases and broad windows create a rhythm of lines and light. In some photographs the couple are small within that space; in others, a face or a hand fills the frame. The change in scale keeps the architecture from becoming the whole story. An overhead staircase view, a quiet window silhouette and a playful pause at the vintage telephone booths each bring a different mood to the same session, with the couple's connection carrying it through.

Stillness, with the city moving past Movement belongs in the story, too.

A walking photograph can hold a different kind of memory from a still portrait. This selection includes genuine motion in monochrome, along with a frame where the couple remain together as visitors blur past. Those pictures sit beside clear expressions and composed architectural views. The variety is deliberate: movement is useful when it adds feeling, while an unhurried close portrait gives the eye somewhere to rest. On the entrance steps, the session opens back out into a distinctly New York setting.

Inspiration for your own NYC couples photoshoot Before the wedding, or after it.

This was a post-wedding portrait session, with the couple dressed for photographs after their wedding day. The same attention to light, personality and surroundings can shape an engagement shoot or another couples session in New York City. Start with the atmosphere you want: grand architecture, a quieter corner or a more open city walk. Then build a practical plan around the location, its current access arrangements and the time available, so the session has space for both intention and spontaneity.

Around New York and nearby.

Bar mitzvah and wedding photography in Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens, Hoboken and Jersey City. Engagement sessions like this one also lend themselves well to New York’s civic interiors and older public buildings, where stone, stairs and evening light can carry the whole edit.

Common questions.

Related galleries.

NYC engagement photographyAn engagement session at Grand Central and Central ParkNYC wedding portraitsWedding portraits at the Brooklyn BridgeWedding galleryAn artistic Jewish wedding at Falkirk Estate

Planning a simcha like this one?

Tell us your date and venue — we answer within one business day.

Begin the conversation→
WhatsApp us— let’s get in touch