Camera at funeral

As long as it's done respectfully and with full knowledge of those closely involved, I really don't see an issue with it at all.

One of the nicest stories I've heard was from my friend's father's funeral, where they really took it to the extreme.
Her family's from South Africa and a lot of the elderly relatives were unable to travel to the UK the funeral, so they ended up planning simultaneous wakes in both countries.
They actually hired a videographer for the UK funeral, then had the video immediately uploaded and played back on a big screen at the South African wake so the family there had the opportunity to feel like they were participating.

From what I understand, they all thought it was fantastic - it gave them a chance to pay their respects and 'see' family members that they'll probably never get to meet in the flesh.
Strangely enough, the only resistance encountered was from the videographers themselves when they were trying to book somebody for the job.
 
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I think it's weird. At a funeral not too long ago where someone wanted to get everyone together for a 'nice family photo' safe to say it was not a day most wanted a lasting memory of, or to have a camera pointed in their face. I don't think funerals are a place for cameras, certainly not a day where people should be think 'ooh I want to get this shot, or that shot' it's not a day out, or a photo opportunity, it's a funeral.
 
Celebrating a loved ones life after they have passed away is a good thing, we know that everyone grieves in a different way, so if you wish to take your camera to a loved ones funeral then do so but respect the other mourners that will be there and leave it in the bag until you have all gone to the wake and then get it out and ask if anyone objects, if this is in relation to someone whom you loved in life then please accept my condolences
i hope this does not offend you
 
viv1969 said:
To be fair, that link actually says "to grieve and to give thanks for the life lived".

I've photographed a few funerals, and am also on a call list at two local hospitals should anyone be unlucky enough to suffer a stillbirth and wish to have some photographs of their baby (which is of course not a fee paying service). I've done that seven times now.

We have such an old fashioned attitude to death in this country IMO. It's the one thing that is guaranteed to happen to us all, yet it's shied away from...whispered about in corners. Silly really.
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I'm sure they turn out better than nurses with the family's iPhone, being a paediatric nurse I can really see the value in this but I bet the majority of people wouldn't be keen.

As for pics at funerals I'm really not bothered either way, as others have said we all grieve in our own way, but we take photos of every other moment of life of which death is just a part.
 
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Toothie said:
I'm sure they turn out better than nurses with the family's iPhone, being a paediatric nurse I can really see the value in this but I bet the majority of people wouldn't be keen.

As for pics at funerals I'm really not bothered either way, as others have said we all grieve in our own way, but we take photos of every other moment of life of which death is just a part.
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Then I'd say paediatric isn't the same as obstetric.
There are 26 photographers on the list for the one hospital.
We (the group) are called upon often.
 
viv1969 said:
Then I'd say paediatric isn't the same as obstetric.
There are 26 photographers on the list for the one hospital.
We (the group) are called upon often.
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It's not but then in the main when children die there are photos of them alive so maybe not so much of a call for it but I have known photos be taken at cot death incidents.
 
We're not talking in the main.
Stillborn children have never drawn breath.
It's not nearly the same thing and I'm sorry, but whatever your profession, it's not something you can remotely relate to unless you've gone through it.
 
viv1969 said:
We're not talking in the main.
Stillborn children have never drawn breath.
It's not nearly the same thing and I'm sorry, but whatever your profession, it's not something you can remotely relate to unless you've gone through it.
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Bad choice of words on my part I meant children as aposed to newborns, so there tends to be more photos as there has been time to take them which is when when the need arises in paediatrics we end up with nurses and camera phones rather than a list of pros to call. I never meantioned relating to how it feels to lose a child or how that relates to my profession so you have lost me a little there.
 
Toothie said:
Bad choice of words on my part I meant children as aposed to newborns, so there tends to be more photos as there has been time to take them which is when when the need arises in paediatrics we end up with nurses and camera phones rather than a list of pros to call. I never meantioned relating to how it feels to lose a child or how that relates to my profession so you have lost me a little there.
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You said the majority of people wouldn't be keen on the kind of photographs i and fellow volunteers offer on the occasion of a stillbirth.
You're wrong.
 
I think from all the remarks here that it would be a matter of asking the family organising the funeral. I personally would not.
 
viv1969 said:
You said the majority of people wouldn't be keen on the kind of photographs i and fellow volunteers offer on the occasion of a stillbirth.
You're wrong.
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No I meant there wouldn't be many photographers that wouldn't be keen to take them - I fully understand the parents need for the photos.
 
Toothie said:
No I meant there wouldn't be many photographers that wouldn't be keen to take them - I fully understand the parents need for the photos.
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Ah ok.
Well all of the photographers on my list have suffered a similar loss
 
Interesting discussion. I had occasion to think about this rather deeply recently, and restricted myself to the events around the funeral rather than the ceremony itself. Even then I was in two minds about posting the photos anywhere.. https://www.talkphotography.co.uk/threads/a-rather-personal-set.596026/

The funeral preparation and wake really were a therapeutic coming together of family and celebration of a life. The ceremony itself was a very personal affair, despite the church being rammed, and photography would have been entirely inappropriate.

On the flip side, photographing funerals appeals to me in a way which weddings don't quite.
 
I sold a camera on ebay about 3 years ago to an Irish lass who was starting up a funeral photography business. It does seem odd, but I've been to a few where the family have moved away and are getting photos taken to pass on.
 
when a friend of mine died the family did the funeral as a celebration of his life rather than an occasion for mourning. All of us were encouraged to tell funny or poignant stories from his life and while naturally there were some tears it was broadly a happy occasion rather than a sad one, there was a big buffet, 2 grand behind the bar, and a ceilidh band... they had a photographer covering it all ( I did offer but they said they wanted me to be part of it not have to see it through a view finder) and even an album of "jamies' last party"

Certainly not for everyone but it seemed to work in this case
 
This thread has really got me thinking this morning.

My father passed away on Thursday and was a very keen photographer (it's him who got my husband and I back into it). We're having a Rolleiflex made of flowers for him. I think my dad would have been quite happy with someone taking photos, perhaps not of the actual service & committal but of the gathering afterwards. I'm not sure how my mother would feel about it though (not that I have suggested it), even though the Rollei was her idea. I may broach the subject with her and my husband later on today.
 
Sorry to hear and my condolences. I didn't know him, but it sounds like he would have appreciated. Good luck with your choice.
 
Although very sad, the last couple of funerals I've been to have been a "celebration of life" event.

Tears and somberness replaced by smiles and hand clapping

Times are changing. It's how some of the new generation want to let us go.

Uncle Bob's lowering into the ground with be on social media before you know it.
 
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