In what appears to be a growing phenomenon in Saudi society, unscrupulous female photographers are selling the images of their female clients, taken at wedding parties and other private functions, to immoral men willing to pay the price. The Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice – the Hai'a – in Madina several months ago seized a number of CDs of wedding parties that were copied and sold in shops run by expatriates. This created a major furor in Saudi society because of its blatant violation of people's privacy. The investigations later showed that the workers copied the CDs, of women's occasions such as wedding parties, after getting the images from female expatriate photographers. They would keep a copy of each party on a CD in the shop. Arab women photographers It turned out that a group of Arab women were involved in taking these images using video cameras. They would hand the footage over to these shops where they would be copied onto CDs. The workers involved in these illegal acts were arrested and 293 CDs and computers were found in their possession. Copies of the CDs were also found in mobile telephone shops. They had been sold to a male Asian expatriate. Over 700 pictures of wedding parties in Madina were found in his possession, showing women in wedding dresses. During questioning, he admitted that a female wedding party photographer had sold him the pictures. He had copied them onto CDs and sold them for prices ranging between SR100 and SR200. In another incident, a female employer found that her female worker in a dressmaking workshop and beauty salon, wanted to sell images she had taken of the female clients. The female sponsor took control of the situation before the pictures could be sold to adolescents and unscrupulous young men. She destroyed the pictures and deported the female worker to safeguard the reputation of her shop and salon. Women in wedding dresses M.S. said a female photographer took pictures of her and her female relatives at a family occasion. Some of her relatives were young, not more than 16 years of age. “I later heard that the Hai'a had arrested an expatriate man working at a telephone call shop, who had thousands of pictures of girls in his possession which he was selling. I was afraid that our pictures would be among them, especially since the investigation revealed that the pictures were leaked by a female photographer of wedding parties. If any of the families of these girls had learnt about these pictures, perhaps crimes, including murder, would have been committed. Frankly speaking, some of these female photographers have no conscience. They would sell private pictures of girls for just SR2 a picture.” S.H. said that one of her female relatives told her that when she visited a photography studio in Madina, she saw, by chance, thousands of pictures of women in wedding dresses. A worker immediately removed the pictures. She asked herself what would happen if these pictures were copied and sold. However, not all female photographers are involved in such immoral behavior. A female photographer, identified only as N.G. working at a women's dressmaking workshop, said there are people who are harming the profession. “We hope that the filming of wedding parties can be organized so that parasite photographers and those who don't fear Allah will not deprive us of earning our bread.” Another female photographer, identified only as N.T., agrees with N.G. that most of those who practice these unscrupulous acts are unidentified female expatriates, who attract families by offering low prices. She appealed to the families to go to well-known photography studios. Monitor workers In this regard, Yasser Al-Mattrafi, a spokesman of the Hai'a in Madina, said that his organization wants to protect society against immorality and decadence. He called on citizens and expatriates to be cautious and not to lower their guard with women who take photographs at parties. He also called on shop owners to monitor their workers. Muhammad Al-Jihani, who owns wedding halls in Madina, said it is well-known that women photographers deal with photography studios run by men. However, in his wedding halls, he makes sure that no unidentified woman photographer is allowed inside. He said families often resort to such photographers. He called on the Ministry of Culture and Information to take action in this regard. A senior official from the Madina police, Col. Dr. Naif Al-Marwani, said it has become commonplace for families in the Kingdom to document their happy occasions by taking still pictures and videos with digital cameras. However, this has negative consequences especially if the pictures are placed on the Internet. He warned that this can cause serious criminal problems. Ban photography Abdul Salam Al-Talaq, Khateeb of Princess Sheikha Grand Mosque in Madina, said that taking photographs has become commonplace, but that it could seriously jeopardize the future of girls and women. He called on people to keep away from taking photos at parties because there was greater harm than benefit in the practice. Mansour Al-Hazmi, a sociologist, said awareness should be created about the adverse effect of taking pictures can have on those who have not given their permission. If these women realized what was happening to them, they would not allow their pictures to be taken. He called on owners of wedding halls to ban photography in the women's sections.
