Thieves, intent on stealing pricey camera equipment, are targeting wedding photographers, leaving both the professionals and the couples they are photographing terrified and heartbroken.
Thieves, intent on stealing pricey camera equipment, are targeting wedding photographers, leaving both the professionals and the couples they are photographing terrified and heartbroken.
In one incident, assailants armed with guns were captured on video footage pistol whipping a wedding photographer over and over. The photographer could be seen clinging to his camera bag, desperate to protect the once-in-a-lifetime memories he captured for a bride and grooms.
Hours earlier, the same men allegedly were captured on different footage robbing another photographer.
The attacks happened at San Francisco’s iconic Palace of Fine Arts, which often serves as a background for wedding photographers. Police are investigating the incidents.
“It’s a violation,” says photographer Chloe Jackman, who tells Inside Edition her equipment has been stolen three times. “It’s heartbreaking; you want to scream. You want to blame somebody.”
In those incidents, Jackman’s camera gear was stolen from her car, but now she worries she may be physically assaulted as well.
“I have started to worry about my personal safety while I am out shooting,” she says.
Jackman took extra steps to stay safe on photoshoot at the Palace of Fine Arts. She brought her husband to help keep watch and wore a leather harness attached to her cameras to keep her equipment close.
Husband and wife photographers Annie Zou and David Zhang are also taking additional steps to stay safe. They have gone so far as to hire armed guards to protect them while working.
“I do feel like every day, whenever we go out for a photoshoot, our lives are somehow in danger,” Zou says. “And I feel like sooner or later, we will be the target.”
