Demand for funeral photography and videography booms in wake of COVID-19 pandemic

The pandemic forced people to become creative when it came to funerals, but one unusual service to capture moments could be here to stay.

While it’s common practice to hire a photographer for a wedding or big birthday bash, there is one unusual area where it’s becoming big business — at funerals.

The funeral industry had a big spike in this bespoke photography service during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic as families needed to be more creative to celebrate their loved ones with restricted numbers or border closures.

Michelle Bova has been doing funeral photography since 2010. Six years ago she set up a dedicated business called Funeral Video Australia and believes she is the only one to offer a full time service in the country, with a team of 15.

Before the pandemic, she was offering funeral photography and videography to around 20 families a month, but this has now risen to 50. She said people are shocked when she tells them about her job.

“I’m like a little black ninja with the way I dress and act. It’s about getting candid footage but trying to be hidden within crowd but also documenting the journey from the family arriving, the set up in the front of the church or venue, the speakers, the journey to the carriage and hearse and the blessing,” she explained.

“I’m like a fly on the wall. It’s not like a wedding where you are stopping people to pose. For me, as a funeral photographer that can happen at the wake — they will take a group shot and I tell them it was for the family to know who was there.”

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Michelle Bova started Funeral Video Australia back in 2015. Picture: Funeral Video Australia

Prices range depending on what families want with a photographer for three hours costing $1500, live streaming priced between $1800 and $2300, while a photo tribute for the service can be purchased for $330.

Livestreaming is a big part of the job, along with recording the service, according to the Sydney local.

“The biggest feedback I get from families is ‘I don’t remember that happening’, ‘I didn’t see that person’,” she said.

“In the week leading up to the funeral they are trying to organise a huge service and by the time it gets to the day they are in such a fluster and state. I’ve had families say watching the eulogy gives them closure when going back to watch it.”

White Lady funerals around Australia saw a spike in demand for this service during COVID and the company believes the service is here to stay.

Kerry Sieper from White Lady Funerals NSW said hiring videographers and photographers has been up 100 per cent in the last year, while live streaming the funeral services has also increased by 90 per cent.

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Families can choose photography at the funeral service, gravesite and wake. Picture: Funeral Video Australia

Photo montages and live streaming funeral services have also become popular. Picture: Funeral Video Australia

She said some families opt for a photographer to attend just the service, but others also want moments captured at the gravesite and wake.

But while morbid images may come to mind when people imagine funeral photography, it’s not what you think, she added.

“We don’t have photographers up the front taking photos of the coffin and the deceased. It’s about the families and looking to capture the whole congregation together so they can remember when they look back, as normally a funeral service goes by in an absolute blur for immediate family,” she said. “But then it gives them something to look back on visually, an in memorial book, of people supporting them.”

Ms Sieper said that while a funeral is sad, there are also moments of celebrating a person’s life.

“People are seeing that it’s actually something that is worth investing in because at times like a funeral you get people who get together who haven’t seen each other for many years and to get a professional photographer to capture those moments it’s a keepsake forever,” she said.

But not just any photographer is suited for the role.

“We are looking for someone that has the right skills in that area — it’s not your normal photographer that does weddings and events,” she said.

“They have to be a specialised service as it’s a very delicate moment and it’s about knowing when to capture a person, while being respectful of the grieving process, and it’s about people not even realising the photographer is there.”

Funeral photography is also seen as a solution for high profile deaths. Families can work with a funeral photographer to provide approved imagery to media when the funeral is of public interest. This way families can grieve in private but work with the media if they choose.

Originally published as Demand for funeral photography and videography booms in wake of COVID-19 pandemic