PHOTOGRAPHERS IN CHURCHES

Press, Volume LXXXIX, Issue 27036, 11 May 1953, Page 12

PHOTOGRAPHERS IN CHURCHES

PRACTICE AT WEDDINGS CONDEMNED

A criticism of the practice of taking wedding photographs in the church has been made by the vicar of St. Mary’s Church, Addington (the Rev. H. I. Hopkins) in his parish magazine. In condemning the practice, Mr Hopkins said that he would not permit photographs to be taken in St. Mary’s. “There appears to be a habit growing up in some places of allowing photographers to come into the church in the course of marriage services and take photographs of the couple at various stages of the proceedings,” Mr Hopkins writes. “We have heard of people being photographed in some churches in front of the altar during the service. Apparently this idea is sometimes suggested to the couple by the cameraman, and sometimes the people to be married themselves ask for it. “To some of us it seems unfitting that the church should be turned into a studio in that way during the course of a service, and the vicar would like it known that photographs inside the church cannot be permitted at St Mary’s. We know many of our readers will not be coming to be married and many of those who do come will not read this paragraph, seeing that they come from all over Christchurch. But such publicity as we can give to the matter will not, we hope, go astray. “Those who think of the marriage service as just a show will see nothing wrong with the practice, but we cannot set the standards of conduct in church accordingto the tastes of such people as that. The only real reason for coming to church to be married is that people want this great event to be celebrated solemnly and with prayer for God’s blessing upon it; and they ought not to want to have such a religious ceremony interrupted by such distractions as would be caused by the activities of photographers.”