A white couple's 'Kidnapped in Congo' wedding photo is causing controversy online

It’s as bad as it sounds.

A white couple decided to create a weird photo shoot for their wedding, complete with fake Congolese militia.

The bizarre photos feature a white bride in a whole host of awkward poses including being held at gunpoint by a black soldier and walking down a dirt road with little black children following.

Another had the bride standing in front of a crowd of Congolese adults and children with the caption: “Just cruising thru the ghetto in Congo in a wedding dress."

A different photo has a close up shot of what looks like her diamond wedding ring curled around an AK47 with the caption “Blood Diamonds".

American travel photographer John Milton and his wife had their wedding in the Democratic Republic of Congo back in 2017.

Congo has suffered through a number of civil wars in the past few decades, the result of which have been the death of hundreds of thousands of people and the displacement of more than four million refugees.

The civil wars gave birth to horrific forms of violence perpetrated by militia gangs, and the reverberations of the deadly conflicts are still felt in the country today.

In light of such facts, people thought the photo shoot was…insensitive. And, well, racist.

The photos were uploaded to Facebook by an English teacher called Cecilia Christin. She told Business Insidershefound the images on her Instagram Discover page as she runs a travel-themed Instagram.

I decided to share these pictures in order to foster discussion with my friends and following, specifically about the accessorisation of black bodies for this couple’s photo shoot.

Foster discussion she did.

The post was shared more than 8,000 times. One person wrote:

I do not claim these Caucasians. This just Screams [sic] distasteful and the 'ghetto' caption and the photo is just so wrong.

Another tagged a friend and said, “Look at this dumpster fire.”

Shortly after his images when viral, Milton seemed to have deleted his Instagram account, 30.raw.

It was Facebook user Lisa Leflore who nailed it with her reaction:

I don't...I just... what does one say here? I got nothing.

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