Beyonce has barred professional photographers from her Mrs. Carter Show World Tour.
The Guardian reported Wednesday that "no photo credentials" have been granted for the tour, which kicked off in Serbia last week. Instead, Beyonce has hired photographer Frank Micelotta to take pictures, which are then distributed to the press after each show.
The decision comes months after Beyonce's publicist asked BuzzFeed to remove photos of the singer at the Super Bowl which she deemed "unflattering" in February. The "unflattering" photos were also reportedly removed from Getty.
Beyonce's management company released just two photos from the first show of her tour last Monday. That doesn't mean that the singer has been able to control every photo to come out of her tour, though. As the Huffington Post UK pointed out, non-official photos taken by members of the crowd have also been circulating.
Professional photographer Noam Galai — who also works for The Huffington Post's parent company AOL — took note of the photos, writing in a blog post for Fstoppers:
"...we all know how media works – they will do anything possible to get images that other publications don’t have. If they can’t send a photographer to give them original photos, the next best thing they can do is buy photos from fans in the front rows in the arena (cameras were not allowed, but no one can take away phones). It’s the next best thing for them, and a huge nightmare for Beyoncé and her publicist."