Parents of the children were stunned when the company asked them if they wanted their children to be edited out.
A photography company has apologized to parents after a series of class photos left out children who needed extra support.
Aboyne Primary School in Aberdeenshire, Scotland hired Tempest Photography to take photos of its P5 class.
Three children with “complex needs” were cropped out after the images were taken and the images were given to parents as a choice.
The children's parents expressed their shock and anger at the company's decision and said they felt their children had been “erased.”
One of the children removed from the image was a wheelchair user whose twin sister was “distraught” by her neglect.
Natalie Pinnell told us her nine-year-old daughter needed extra support and was removed from the photo. Mail online: “You can't delete them because they're inconvenient. It just doesn't work.”
“It's devastating to have your child removed from a picture, or for a parent to choose whether she should be included.
“She is the most beautiful person. Who could do this? I'm just glad she didn't realize it because it would have been devastating to her self-esteem.”
The Cornwall-based photography company, which employs local photographers to capture school photos across the UK, said it “deeply regrets” the harm caused.
The company initially said it had launched an investigation but has now assured customers that this is “not standard procedure”, adding that it is taking the matter “very seriously”.
This statement was published in X“Recently, after taking a group photo of the class, one of our photographers took a group photo of the class, but some members of the class were omitted from the photo,” the former tweet said.
“We deeply regret any upset this has caused and offer our sincere apologies to the parents and children affected.
“We are a family-run business that shoots photos in schools across the UK and we would like to reassure our customers that this is not standard procedure for our company and we are taking this matter very seriously.
“We are committed to implementing meaningful changes to prevent similar situations from happening in the future.”
Aberdeenshire Council also apologized to parents after the issue was reported and said the decision was not the school's.
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