The client loses access to the email address used for gallery delivery

Email accounts are lost more often than people expect. A staff member leaves a company, an old address is closed, a password cannot be recovered. If your gallery link was sent there, your photographs seem to be stuck behind a locked door. The way back is through the provider's own verification, not around it. This guide is part of our pages on when event photography plans or delivery go wrong.

Why verification matters

A gallery link can open personal photographs, often of people other than the client. If a link is forwarded to an address that has not been checked, it may reach someone it should not. Our guide to private gallery access and onward sharing explains why links need care.

So the provider will usually ask you to confirm who you are before issuing access to a new address. It can feel slow, and it protects you and your guests.

Contact the provider the right way

Use the contact details already on your quotation or confirmation, or the official support page. Our gallery access and download help page explains common gallery questions, and our existing booking support page is the route for booked clients.

Include:

• Your name and booking reference.
• The event date and the type of event.
• The email address that was used, and that you can no longer reach.
• The new address you would like to use, if any.
• Whether you think the old account was accessed by someone else.

Do not send passwords, banking details or copies of identity documents unless the provider has explained why they are needed and where to send them.

What the provider might ask

Different providers use different checks. Typical questions are:

Check	Why
Booking reference or invoice number	Links you to the booking
Event date and venue	Confirms you were involved
Details from the original enquiry	Matches the record
A phone number held on file	Allows a call-back
Name on the quotation	Confirms who may receive the gallery

If the booking was made by a company, the provider may need a message from an authorised person there. Our guide to photography booking records when company ownership or contacts change covers that case.

If the old account may be compromised

If someone else may have accessed the old email, tell the provider immediately. The old link can be disabled and a new one issued after verification. Also secure the old account with your email provider, change the passwords you use elsewhere and watch for unfamiliar messages. If the gallery was shared inside a group or through chat, see sharing a private event gallery through messaging groups.

When the gallery has expired or moved

Galleries are held for a period set out in your booking. If yours has expired, ask what is still held, whether it can be reactivated and what that involves. Our guide to gallery expiry and the photographer's archive explains the questions to ask. We do not promise that every file will still be available, and we tell you in writing what we can do.

A hypothetical example

Imagine a small business owner who booked a team event with her work email. She then left the company and lost access. She writes to the photographer with her booking reference, the event date and the new address she wants to use.

The photographer replies that the booking was made in the company's name and asks for a short confirmation from an authorised colleague. The colleague confirms by reply. The old link is disabled, a new one is issued to the verified address, and the owner uses the photo delivery acceptance checklist to check the gallery against her brief.

Prevent it next time

For future events, give the provider a role address such as a shared inbox in addition to a personal one. Note who may receive the gallery. The photo archive planner helps you decide where the finished files will live, and the photo sharing and privacy plan records who may see them.

Questions to prepare

• Which address received the gallery?
• Who was named on the quotation?
• Is there any chance the old account was accessed by others?
• Where do you want the files to live from now on?