A wedding photographer at the centre of a row with vicars that has sparked an intervention by a former archbishop has called for the two camps to put aside their differences and work in peaceful harmony.
Last week more than 900 wedding photographers signed a petition started by photographer Rachel Roberts, who urged vicars to “improve” their working conditions after complaints that some clergy members had been making it difficult to take photos inside church premises.
It stated that “problematic vicars” were more often than not “rude, humiliating, aggressive and abusive”. In a viral video on TikTok seen by more than 2m, one vicar is seen pausing a service to prevent a photographer from taking shots.
The former archbishop of Canterbury Dr Rowan Williams waded into the debate, conceding that while vicars could be “irritating” that there are two sides to every story and it was not unreasonable to ask photographers to behave.
Roberts said tension between photographers and the clergy had been an ongoing issue in the industry for so long she had to “light the flame under the community” and make sure something was done about it.
Roberts, 37, from Lincoln, said: “Everyone’s just kind of sitting back and taking it lying down. And you know, from the perspective of the priests and vicars, they’re probably like: ‘Oh, they just come in here and they do all this,’ and no one’s actually started a conversation about it.
“I think regardless of what vicars think we do, in terms of our behaviour, there’s never ever a reason to justify aggression and public humiliation, especially at someone’s wedding, like it is not the time and the place.
“Something needed to be started – it just took off because everyone felt so strongly about it, but also, because if it is anyone that you wouldn’t expect to be aggressive and publicly rude, it’s a vicar.”
Roberts, a professional photographer for six years, said she had worked in a church where a vicar had specified there could be no photography during the ceremony, only posed shots at the end. That meant Roberts missing key moments such as the bride being walked down the aisle by her father.
She added: “They basically forget the fact that two people are getting married, and it’s the most important day of their lives. They put their own objectives and their own rules first and forget the reason why we’re all actually here. I don’t want to be seen as vicar bashing. I think people are relieved that I’m doing it in such a way so that we’re not falling out with priests and vicars. We’re actually trying to build bridges and move forward.”
Lambeth Palace has been approached for comment.
