Screengrabbed from Toni Gonzaga’s Facebook page
The official photographer of Toni Gonzaga and Paul Soriano’s prenuptial shoot at the National Museum has apologized after netizens took notice of the actress-host appeared to be touching a painting with her elbow in one of the photos.
In a Facebook post on Thursday, wedding photographer Oly Ruiz of Metro Photography said they did not intend to disrespect any work of art, explaining that the paintings they used in the pre-wedding shoot were all replicas.
“The frames were made of styrofoam and the canvasses were ordinary paper,” he said. “As professionals we always ensure that we provide safety not only for our subjects but also the respect of our shoot locations.”
LOOK: Toni Gonzaga, Paul Soriano prenup photos
Ruiz added they asked Gonzaga to use her elbow only to prevent the painting from falling: “Initially there was no plan to touch the painting at all but as we are taking a shot with Toni in front of it, the said painting gradually started to fall on her.”
Metro Photography removed the controversial photo from their website and vowed to be “more cognizant in the future.”
“Again, we sincerely apologize to everyone that we may have offended and we apologize also to the National Museum who have been negatively affected when all they did was accommodate us the best way they can,” Ruiz said.
The National Museum prohibits visitors from “touching artworks of exhibit items for commercial purposes inside galleries unless otherwise authorized through a special permit from the Director’s Office or the Museum Education Division.”
Gonzaga and Soriano tied the knot on Friday afternoon at United Methodist Church in Taytay, Rizal.
READ: Toni Gonzaga, Paul Soriano tie knot in Taytay