One wedding photographer has had enough of her personal boundaries being violated, so she turned to the internet to speak up about it. However, the woman soon realized that she touched upon something big — a problem the whole industry suffers from.
Kim Williams is a wedding photographer and videographer based in Brighton, United Kingdom. She shoots about 45 to 50 ceremonies per year, and she told Insider she loves her work.
Except for one thing. She hates the way some men treat her. And we’re not talking about smirks and winks. No no, they go as far as asking for her number in the middle of speeches and repeatedly touching her without consent.
More info: kimwilliamsweddings.com | Instagram
Kim Williams, 30, is a wedding photographer and videographer from the UK
Image credits: kimwilliamsweddings.com
A few days ago, she made an Instagram post, describing all the ways men crossed the line coming on to her while she was simply doing her job
Image credits: kimwilliamsweddings
Williams first noticed that her work can feel uncomfortable when she was photographing dance floors.
“When I started shooting weddings and was covering a lot of dance floors and big groups of cis-het men around alcohol, a lot of the time I didn’t feel hugely safe,” she revealed, explaining that some men would touch her without consent or try to ask her out.
Furthermore, men at weddings would frequently “mansplain” things to her, or defer to her male staff members.
Williams added that male peers she worked weddings with were also guilty of this type of behavior.
“I went through some really horrendous things, such as a photographer clicking at me all day and refusing to learn my name,” she said.
He then proceeded to ask her to take a selfie with him, and later told Williams he was sending it to his wife because “she knows I have a thing for brunettes.”
Image credits: kimwilliamsweddings
Image credits: kimwilliamsweddings
Image credits: kimwilliamsweddings
Image credits: kimwilliamsweddings
Image credits: kimwilliamsweddings
Image credits: kimwilliamsweddings
Image credits: kimwilliamsweddings
“I don’t believe it’s women’s problem to solve,” she said. “I think if the men doing the harassing were listening to women, there would be no more harassment because we ask them to stop every single day.”
Williams hopes that sharing her story can lead to industry-wide change that ensures other female and non-binary wedding vendors feel safer at work.
“I would just love for them to be able to turn up at a wedding and feel safe, and feel like all they need to do on that day is focus on making a couple and a guest feel awesome and taking amazing photos or shooting amazing video and not have to worry,” she explained.
As Kim’s message spread around the internet, others came forward with their own opinions and experiences
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Image credits: samdocker.co
Sadly, there are plenty of similar examples
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Image credits: samdocker.co
Image credits: samdocker.co
Image credits: samdocker.co
Image credits: samdocker.co
Williams started the hashtag #handsoffwedding for other wedding photographers to use if they want to share them
Image credits: kimwilliamsweddings
She also shared a series of tips in order to help couples to make their wedding a safe place to work
Image credits: kimwilliamsweddings
Image credits: kimwilliamsweddings
Image credits: kimwilliamsweddings
Image credits: kimwilliamsweddings
Image credits: kimwilliamsweddings
Image credits: kimwilliamsweddings
Image credits: kimwilliamsweddings
Image credits: kimwilliamsweddings
Here’s what people said about the issue
Image credits: www.facebook.com
Image credits: www.facebook.com
Image credits: www.facebook.com
Image credits: www.facebook.com
Image credits: www.facebook.com
Image credits: www.facebook.com
Image credits: www.facebook.com
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