Wedding photographer accused of secretly video recording bride half-undressed in Minnesota bridal suite

A wedding photographer surreptitiously video recorded a woman while she was half-undressed in her southern Minnesota bridal suite, according to a criminal complaint.

Mitchell Donald Ringness, 30, of Pine City, Minn., is due in Freeborn County District Court after being charged with interference with privacy in connection with his being hired to shoot a woman’s wedding in Albert Lea in 2020.

Ringness, who operates MR Photography in Cloquet, Minn., was charged by summons ahead of a Sept. 5 hearing. Court records do not list an attorney for him. A message was left Thursday with Ringness seeking his response to the allegations.

Freeborn County Attorney David Walker said that his office has “been alerted to other possible victims. Walker added that Albert Lea police “also fielded phone calls from concerned women who are worried about what might have happened at their weddings.”

According to the gross misdemeanor charge:

In April, police in Cloquet turned over to their counterparts in Albert Lea a video on a thumb drive that was provided by Ringness’ “significant other,” the complaint read.

The video from October 2020 showed a bridal suite dressing room at the Barn of Chapeau Shores that was shot from a “very low angle” and depicted a woman with her breasts exposed, the complaint continued.

The thumb drive also held “other sexual conduct material,” read the charging document, which did not elaborate on the additional content.

The woman told police that she was unaware that she was being recorded while in the dressing room and did not instruct Ringness to shoot any boudoir images.