Photographer Receives Cancellation Request After Supporting Gay Marriage And Responds Perfectly

Photographer Receives Cancellation Request After Supporting Gay Marriage And Responds Perfectly

There has been a lot of fan fare about the recent legislation that allows nationwide marriage for gay couples in the USA but not everyone is happy or excited. One photography business has been the target of this intolerance when their support of gay marriage resulted in a cancellation request from a wedding client. The response they provided was perfect.

As I am sure most of you have noticed by now, your Facebook feeds are full of rainbow colored profile pictures. This is no coincidence but rather a celebration of the monumental legislation that allows for nationwide gay marriage in the USA. Florida based Brentwood Photography did their part to participate in the celebration and show their support for gay couples across America.

This show of support was met quickly with a cancellation request from one of their clients who was not quite as eager to celebrate. The client demanded their retainer be returned. Brentwood Photography took the opportunity to answer the client and did the most honorable thing with the clients retainer.

I am standing and slowly clapping Brentwood Photography. Kudos. Go check them out at http://www.brentwoodphotography.com/, and show some love on their FB page Brentwood Photography.

Peter House's picture

Peter House is a commercial fashion photographer from Toronto, Canada. He shoots over 10,000 pieces of clothing every year for a variety of lookbooks. Clients range from small local boutiques to international brands such as Target, Winners, and Sears. In addition to that Peter runs one of the most popular rental studio's in the Toronto area.

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1. Sure they did. They pulled their contract to force a change of opinion which, as it goes, is one rooted in hate.

2. Your analogy is terrible, I think you need to try again.

3. Don't you think that's irrelevant to the ability of the photographer to photograph the wedding? There isn't Christian cameras and Gay cameras being used here.

4. I can't see the name of the client, can you?

5. Sure they did, by pulling their contract they're stating that they will deny him an opportunity to work because he supports same-sex marriage.

The client initiated this, he had no desire to discriminate against them on the basis of their faith, so they deserve what they get.

I thought they were bringing out 'Gay cameras', with added Sun Flare & Rainbows.

Bobbi hunty you're clearly upset that society is growing up and taking your hate binky away.

I somewhat feel the photographer is an opportunist. a very unprofessional opportunist.

It's quite a big market, or am I wrong? So hey he took his bite. Considering the tone of his response though, I can say he was genuinely offended too, hence the slap at the end.

The hardest thing to do is be the bigger person in these situations, and his reply reflected that he is still not ready to deal with tough situations. thats my opinion in the end.

I remember reading an article here that i totally loved about leaving a good impression with clients. And a photographer must leave a good impression even if he does not get the job. Because in the end, If someone searches for their name now. to check out their portfolio, they would see this post and read was sort of attitude he has, which he might lose jobs from.

So his reply was too personal and short sighted.

Being tolerant of intolerance is a zero-sum game and logically doesn't make any sense. You do not defeat bigotry and prejudice, regardless of how someone has arrived at it, by tolerating it. 50 or 60 years ago, people just like this would have done similar for photographers that supported civil rights for blacks, and they would have wrapped themselves in the righteousness of their faith while they did it.

The client has set the bar for impression here and it's a very, very, low one. I think he can afford to not leave a good impression with this sort, there is zero reason to do so.

i do see where you are coming from, But i stand by my opinion that the photographer could have handled himself better. The tone of his reply would definietly not make me want to recommend nor hire him if i ever saw that. And i am sure many will feel the same.

The reason why i would not hire such a photographer nor recommend is not because i don't share the same opinion. Its because i saw the amateur side of him that would make me hesitant incase things didn't go as planned either during the event, delivering the photos/album or retouching comments.

There are other professional ways to deal with these situations. Rubbing it in their faces and trying to annoy them is very childish, and as i said, somewhat opportunistic given that this is the hottest topic on the internet now.

As i said, very shortsighted.

Bobbi hunty correcting intolerance is a good thing.

I don't know about perfect response, I kind of see his response as bullying to a degree. I would have handled it differently, and in a private respectful manner. Who knows, approached in the right way, might have even rescued/retained the original booking while helping them see the light.

I've seen the client response, I assure you, Hell would freeze over before they'd consider using Brentwood to cover their wedding.

If you're talking about their response to his "perfect" response to them, well his intention was clearly to slap them in the face, much as a bully would, so it would be natural for them to respond negatively, perhaps even with some hostility. All I'm saying is that I would have handled the situation differently, I don't like burning bridges to build new ones, it's usually not productive in the long run.

So, do you not see the client's actions as being bullying? After all, they cancelled the gig on the basis of his support for same-sex marriage, thus trying to force his actions, so they're the ones that initiated the fight here. There is a bully in this, but it's not the photographer.

i don't think either of them falls into the "bully" category. that term is so over used these days whenever someone doesn't like what you tell them. the client was a jerk for canx the date and maybe, just maybe he was for his response. i think he should keep the deposit, they read the contract and signed it. he can do with it whatever he wants.

Bobbi hunty thd client cancelled a contract because of anti LGBTQIA + beliefs held by the photographer. And he was retainer i part to do it which means other work was put out of consideration for their job. This is why it's non-refundable.

An almost perfect response, and far from bullying. Business wise, you don't want to close your doors on any market unless it directly threatens your business. This is a gut reaction in response to the couple's equally strong stance. Broccoli example is gold. Or green.

I support gay marriage but what the photographer wrote was just plain mean towards the clients. he could have donated the money to that cause WITHOUT being an asshole and telling the client about the specific charity.

It's about teaching the pricks a lesson. Well done.

Everyone is entitled to their opinion, even if their opinions are narrow minded and silly. The photographer acted in a highly unprofessional way, he could have been polite about this.

And what would 'the polite' way be? It's that political correctness crap that's gets on my nerves...We shouldn't call out the things for what they are so noone gets offended? And on the other side, you have those 'clients' spouting whatever they want, resulting in verbal and real violence. While we're at it, how about we forbid dumb people from having children because we don't 'approve' of dumb people? The principle is the same, you just switch some words around. And everyone is entitled to their opinion, right?

I treat all my clients with respect, no matter who they are or what they say. It doesn't matter if they are assholes or not, as long as they don't punch you in the face or insult you directly you should still exercise restraint: it's called behaving like a professional, not a motherfucker and separating personal opinions about the clients and business stuff.

Others would have responded with kindness yes, donated the money and just maybe write a blog about it after the fact-not before. Anyway, it's his business.

For three reasons (and I won't get into politics) this was a bad week for people who hate other people. The photographer turned hate into something that hopefully will better the world. Will this help the photographer's business? That remains to be seen. Sorry about the meme...I couldn't resist.

It's probably the most accurate description for this week.

Fan-fucking-tastic.

The answer is interesting to say the least.

Obviously he's surfing a wave, and hitting a touchy topic. Both sides decided to be non-politically correct here and it's what i would call "Radical Honesty" (good book by the way).

JOKE ON : I think i'm going to consider promoting my services for "Swingers Weddings", considering the fact that many swingers are also very much into traditional weddings, it could bring in an interesting debate. :)

In business, their is no religion. The customers brought it in the relationship, so I don't see why the photographer couldn't play along.

It's all fun and good until you're directly involved.

You didn't read their statement very well did you snookums?

Glad to see some sense, "Business-Like Way" is exactly how most photography should think and not take things personally. Or else they will sound like they are running a hobby, not a real business.

The way Lee thinks is exactly how every professional photographer should think, Such characters and personalities will get respect from the quality of their thinking.

Also Bob ...Did you really just use a "prostitute" as an example while talking about gay marriage and photography ?

Morally the client could have wrote a better message, Professionally the photographer could have done the same. A client is a client and a photographer is the business.

Nobody should be forced to do anything, correct. But the photographer gambled with his proffesionalsm.

Bobbi's just embarrassed at the lumpiness of gay marriage supporting that makes all yhe things in his head like awk...ward.

plot twist: the whole stunt was staged in order to get social media attention and so on. well played madafaka!

That kind of people Bobbi? Oh snookums can you be more specific?

Come on, Bob, say it, I know you want it...

Hank Moody approves of your choice of words.

This reminds me of that case of a gay couple suing a photographer because they were denied service due to the business owner's religious stance. I don't think that couple put in money though. I wonder how this will stand in court, in case this couple decides to take it to court against BrentWoodPhotography. Interesting.

Any other business owners here with a similar experience?

I can't seem to get to the FB page anymore...interesting.

I had a look around the website though. Based on some of the content there I'm surprised that a conservative couple would have booked this photographer in the first place. Some of the work there wouldn't suite everybody.

Have to agree with the folks saying that the photographer didn't handle this very professionally. Sure, the client brought their personal views into it and are likely in breach of contract. I have no qualms with the photog keeping the retainer (or donating it to GLAD), but to rub their face in it, was way over the line IMO.

A bit of kindness and humility goes a long way.

“Tolerance of intolerance is cowardice.” - Ayaan Hirsi Ali

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