To think estate agents/ their photographers should tidy up a bit?

I agree with the you OP though it obviously isn't the estate agent/photographer's job to get the hoover out.
Last time I sold a house, it was clean and tidy when the photographer arrived, but he still asked me to move some objects into the hall to make the rooms look their best before taking the photo. Then I had to move the objects out of the hall before he photographed that. The results were fantastic.
I think that whoever took the photos for your friend could at least have straightened the beds and moved dirty clothes and so on out of sight. Poor lady.

Not their job at all - it would be absolutely inappropriate for them to touch other people’s things, and they don’t get paid for the time that it would take. The agent could make suggestions to the seller but not actually do it for them. At most they could do something very minor such as putting the toilet lid down but nothing beyond that.

A good photographer will ask you to move a towel or something just while they take the photos.
I assume the photographer went round on his own so probably not allowed to touch anything.
Our estate agent was brilliant and gave us tips on dressing our home.

No. They’re not there to tidy up and clean ready for the photos. That’s the homeowner’s job - in this case your neighbour’s relative should have done it.

Time would be their main consideration. The other would be liability for breakages and damages.

I agree. I used to work in estate agency and if I went to take photos and the house was a mess, I'd either ask the homeowner to move things or do it myself if there was nobody present.

I'm always staggered by the number of photos with bed sheets askew, drying laundry hanging in view etc. No need.

I think it's part of their job to make small suggestions to improve things like that. Not decor choices or ornaments, but incidental things that can make a room look better or clearly unintentional clutter than can be moved in seconds.

We initially tried to sell our house when we had an 8 month old baby. I'd decluttered and tidied as much as possible, but a few odd bits were on sides from being used during the day and a few items I intended to move for the photos got forgotten because he didn't want me following him as he did the photos. All things that clearly weren't meant to be there and I would have cleared up in an instant if it was pointed out. It was very irritating seeing them in photos.

Yes, I was the one who left them there so ultimately it was my fault. But equally you'd expect a photographer to not just blindly photograph easily solved and clearly unintentional issues. I'd expect a portrait photographer to point out if someone's hair was out of place or they had something on their clothes. I don't see it any differently for a house photographer.

here is a demo how to clean!

Houses like this will probably be probate sales or ex hoarder homes reclaimed under the empty home schemes.

Some people do. A colleague of mine has just told her 30 year old daughter off for letting her house be photographed looking like a tip. She showed us the listing. Toys everywhere, shopping out on the kitchen work surfaces, clothes not put away in the bedrooms. Apparently it’s no big deal because it’s aimed at first time buyers and her DH said they’ll buy anything…

Photo must have fallen off, maybe under the settee by now...

I'm not sure how an Estate Agent would approach something like this, maybe they could open the curtains?

A friends house is on the market and there's a couple of things where I think they definitely could have straightened things up. Like a cushion that has fallen over on the bed and curtain bunched up on the radiator.

It may not be their job to sort it but it surely is their job to point out it should be sorted before photos are taken. If they get no viewings because the house isn't dressed well/photographed well then they won't sell the house. That's literally the job they do.

It’s really not their job. I’m sure there are people who come and stage properties for photos. Possibly not considered a worthwhile investment. If they are going into care anyway then house money will quickly disappear in fees. It makes little difference it they get an extra couple of k as well presented.

I have a large eiderdown which I sometimes throw over the top of the bed!

Decent estate agent use photography who move things about to show the space at Ira best but they should never be expected to make beds or move rubbish!

like straighten up an unmade bed or move a bag of rubbish while being paid to take photos for a house listing?

You are being so unreasonable.

I am an agent and not only do I move things around so they do not show in photos, I also bring in decor to make it look more attractive. All with the agreement of the owner, of course.

When we sold our house 6 years ago, I tidied and cleaned beforehand, and also got the kids to scurry around basically moving ANYTHING small (that wasn't a vase of flowers) out of each room in advance of the photographer. So that the rooms looked really uncluttered.

The photographer commented on how great this was, because often clients expected him to "stage" a room himself. I was shocked because I think that expectation is bang out of order. The photographer was very young, though, and I suspect was getting a bit exploited in his first job. He took excellent photos.

Some homes are being occupied by tenants who are being kind and reasonable enough by having their home entered, they aren't going to want photographers touching their stuff.

I'm often surprised that the owners haven't done really quick and basic things to make it look a bit better, but I wouldn't usually expect the estate agent or photographer to do it.
a) they don't have much time
b) they could get accused of breaking or stealing something if they started arranging things
c) I wouldn't really like some random stranger rummaging around my drawers and cupboards to tidy stuff up
d) some people's homes are such a state a quick 'tidy up' wouldn't make the blindest bit of difference!

However I did see a listing the other day where there was a rubbish wrapper just underneath the sofa - the angle the photo was taken at made it likely the owner might just have missed it as the room was otherwise very tidy - tbh ideally I would have expected the photographer to have noticed that as they were setting up the shot and quickly picked it up - while nobody is going to not buy the house because of one wrapper it was pretty obvious and one of the first things I noticed about the photo so a bit of a shame as the room was very nice.

So minor things like that, or, for example, asking the owner "is it okay if I open the shades?" to let some light in, rather than photograph a dark and gloomy room (another example I saw and thought was weird), fine, but wouldn't expect the estate agent to do anything above and beyond.

Perhaps the relatives don’t greatly care what price is achieved if it’ll all go on care home fees anyway. Not their circus not their monkeys etc. 🤷‍♀️

EAs are obliged to leave the house as they found it. So if the owner leaves the door open, they have to leave it like that. I imagine they’d contact the owner to request permission to close it though.

Of course the responsibility for cleaning and tidying lies with the owner of the property, or their representatives.

You should go and clean it now. Your friend is embarrassed. Go tomorrow or this weekend and tidy it up. Preferably tomorrow, or Friday.