As a professional wedding photographer with an "artistic eye", Mark Priems promised couples across NSW that he would capture all the romantic and touching moments from their special day.
The Wedding Trasher: Convicted wedding photographer Mark Priems flees angry brides
Mark Priems had "heartlessly" disappointed brides and grooms, the NSW Fair Trading Commissioner said.
Melanie and Mitchell Buscombe's only reception arrival frame was delivered sepia-toned and blurred.
As a professional wedding photographer with an "artistic eye", Mark Priems promised couples across NSW that he would capture all the romantic and touching moments from their special day.
But after taking thousands of dollars from wedding couples and their families, he repeatedly either failed to show up at weddings or deliver the premium photography packages he had been entrusted – and paid – to deliver.
Several weeks ago, Priems also failed to appear in court where he was convicted, in absentia, of numerous breaches of Australian Consumer Law. He has been ordered to pay $14,446 in fines as well as $7500 compensation to four victims who pressed ahead with legal action.
But as the wayward photographer continued to play cat and mouse last week with a trail of angry clients, Fairfax Media tracked him down to Melbourne where he has decided to wipe the slate clean and start a new life.
NSW Fair Trading Commissioner Rod Stowe said the then Newcastle-based Priems had "heartlessly" disappointed brides and grooms.
"This individual proved to be very evasive with consumers, as well as with Fair Trading investigators," said Mr Stowe, adding: "His behaviour was unethical and he has caused considerable distress for the families involved."
In two cases that came before court, Priems discussed wedding day plans with the couples, persuaded them to part with deposits and then simply disappeared, failing to both attend the wedding or repay the money he had been given.
Simon and Sarah Williams never heard from Priems again after transferring $750 into his account, a year before their wedding last February.
"He had taken photos at a friend's wedding," said Mr Williams, adding: "In August last year, those friends contacted us and warned that we might want to check in with him as they had not received any pics, or heard from him, in months. So three or four months out from our wedding, we started chasing him. He had well and truly gone to ground so we booked a second photographer. We count ourselves lucky. Other couples lost far more."
At another wedding, which Priems had been paid $2750 to shoot, he had a row with the bride about the photographs he was taking and subsequently failed to deliver any shots of the bride's immediate family including her mother.
Another bride and her fiance paid the full amount for Priems' "Diamond" package. But after shooting the wedding, he vanished for months and then finally delivered small electronic images which were described in court as "extremely poor quality".
There was no one home when Fairfax Media visited Priems' Werribee property this week. A search of Roads and Maritime Services found the registration had expired on the ute with NSW number plates parked in the driveway.
The couples who said "I do" to the wedding trasherWhen Melanie and Mitchell Buscombe bounded into their wedding reception as newly announced husband and wife, Mark Priems documented the moment with a photo so grainy, the groom's face blended into the wall.
Priems canvassed the couple for work in 2014 after they responded to his bridal magazine advert. Once they had paid a deposit, he evaded all their calls, emails and Facebook posts until the eve of the wedding – when he telephoned to confirm his attendance. "He turned up on the day and made a big joke of how he forgot to contact me and find out where he was supposed to go," said Mrs Buscombe.
"Throughout the day, myself and my mum repeatedly asked him to make sure he had certain photos of the family. He kept brushing us off, saying 'I'll get that later'. But he never did."
On the day Priems was scheduled to deliver a $2700 photography package to the couple, he cancelled, claiming his "computer died".
When they did finally receive photos, there was no picture of the bride with her parents, her immediate family or the groom with his parents. Of those that were delivered, most were low resolution, blurred and sepia toned – which the couple specifically asked him not to provide.
"The court has ruled we are eligible for a refund but he has bolted," said Mrs Buscombe, adding: "I hate the thought of others having the same thing, or worse done to them."
"There have been many brides looking for him."Troy and Elisabeth Williams were married on Valentine's Day last year but their wedding wasn't shot by the photographer who received $850 from them several months earlier.
"I met him, we discussed everything, he drew up a contract and I paid the deposit," said Mrs Williams.
"As the day got closer, I hadn't heard from him so I rang and emailed. He never replied."
It was while looking for alternative ways to contact Priems that she found numerous bad reviews and warnings online from families who said he had run off with their money.
So with the clock ticking down towards her big day, Mrs Williams door knocked his home address in Newcastle where a woman said: "There have been many brides looking for him."
She pointed Mrs Williams to the store where Priems was working.
"I confronted him with my husband," said Mrs Williams, adding: "He said sorry. He claimed he had been through a divorce, his life had been turned upside down but he was happy again and had put everything behind him. He insisted he still shoot our wedding. We said no. He promised to refund us immediately.
"I'm still chasing the refund today."
The story The Wedding Trasher: Convicted wedding photographer Mark Priems flees angry brides first appeared on The Sydney Morning Herald.
Source: The Wedding Trasher: Convicted wedding photographer Mark Priems flees angry brides
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