A wedding photographer in Japan has died after he fell from the roof of a restaurant while photographing a couple as they prepared for their wedding.
The 26-year-old was at the Kitano Club in Kobe City on the morning of November 26 when he fell from the third floor, a distance of 30 feet (nine meters). He suffered a blow to the head and was transferred to a local hospital where he died two weeks later on December 9.
According to local police who held a press conference, the cause of death was septic shock brought on by the injury to his head.
The man was reportedly taking photos of the couple on the roof of the venue at a pre-wedding event when he stepped back and fell.
The rooftop offers a spectacular view across Kobe City and has a lawn on top of it but there was no fence in the area he fell. Police are now investigating whether the photographer’s death was due to professional negligence.
The Kitano Club is a popular wedding venue, the grass lawn elevating couples above the skyline allowing for spectacular photos of the bride and groom but serious questions will have to be answered as to how this happened.
In 2015, wedding photographer Gordon Jack passed away at the wedding rehearsal of tennis superstar Andy Murray.
Initially, it was reported he had fallen and had a freak accident but it was later revealed he had actually suffered a heart attack which is what caused him to fall.
The Perils of Being a Photographer
Wedding photography can be hazardous: there are a lot of moving parts and photographers can find themselves in unfamiliar locations, walking backward, and having to avoid random objects and small children.
Most professionals will have insurance to cover themselves in case anything goes wrong.
Earlier this year, PetaPixel interviewed Robyn Lindemann, an elite wedding photographer from Chicago who was forced to close her business after a rare eye disease caused her to go blind and she lost almost all of her peripheral vision.
“I was horribly embarrassed when I missed the outreach of a common handshake, bumped into little flower girls, or humiliatingly tripped over something that was outside my visual field range,” she said.