Beyonce Bans Photographers From Tour After 'Unflattering' Photo Drama
Beyonce Knowles has reportedly banned professional photographers from her Mrs. Carter World Tour following the release of "unflattering" photographs taken during her Feb. 3 Super Bowl performance.
Sean Michaels of the Guardian UK wrote "According to the venue contract obtained by a music photographers' Facebook group, "no photo credentials" are to be granted for concerts on Beyoncé's Mrs Carter tour."
"Instead, news outlets have been given a link to a website featuring shots from Amsterdam, Zagreb, Belgrade and Bratislava," he continued. Michaels added that the singer's U.K. publicist has confirmed the policy change.
Get Our Latest News for FREE
The new policy comes two months after an incident involving Beyonce's U.S. publicist, Yvette Noel-Schure, and popular website Buzzfeed occurred.
Noel-Schure contacted Buzzfeed shortly after her client's highly-publicized Super Bowl performance asking that the site "change" its "unflattering" photographs of Beyonce, which were taken during the show.
The response was a combination of surprising and humiliating for Noel-Schure. Buzzfeed not only refused to make any changes, but the website shared a snapshot of Noel-Schure's polite email with it's millions of global readers. Fortunately, the publicist's contact information was blacked out.
Some critics like Noam Galai of fstoppers.com believe that Beyonce's decision to ban photographers from her shows is "wrong."
Galai argues that the change could result in unflattering photos of the Grammy award-winning singer still surfacing online. He claims media outlets now purchase and may even start relying on "low-quality and not-so-flattering images taken by her fans."
While the change will undoubtedly benefit fans, who will have more opportunities to sell their own concert photos, it may ultimately affect Beyonce, who critics say is only offering low-quality images to the press.
During the Super Bowl XLVII show Beyonce, 31, took to the stage in a risque black leather costume and the outfit resembled a one-piece bathing suit. The singer's suggestive dance routine subsequently resulted in her looking exposed in some photos, and those were the same images Noel-Schure described as being "unflattering."
