Send this page to someone via email

A couple is being reprimanded online for staging their wedding photos atop a volcano in Democratic Republic of Congo, mimicking being held at gunpoint and wearing “blood diamonds.”

Travel photographer John Milton and his wife staged their wedding photos in 2017. The images resurfaced online this week after an Instagram user, Cecilla Christin, spotted the photos on the social media’s explore page and reposted them on Facebook.

READ MORE: Photographer captures monkey recreating iconic ‘Lion King’ scene with baby

“What in the fresh yt hell is this mayo encrusted bulls**t?” said Christin, while sharing screenshots of the Milton’s Instagram photos. “There are literally too many things wrong, here…”

The photos show the pair on the active volcano while locals are staged to be soldiers holding them at gunpoint.

Story continues below advertisement

“Saying our vows at the top of an active Congolese volcano with a local tribe while a civil war is brewing below is surrealism at its best,” reads the caption.

“Just cruising thru the ghetto in Congo in a wedding dress,” reads another caption.

Milton also describes a wedding ring as having a “blood diamond” while it’s pictured on an assault rifle.

Story continues below advertisement

Milton’s Instagram account appears to have been deleted, but the images remain on a photo blog describing the images from last year.

“After the Congo wedding we needed an epic honeymoon therefore we decided upon a daring adventure in an Islamic region of Africa where sadly enough modern-day slavery still exists,” Milton said.

READ MORE: A bride takes her wedding day photos, 10 months after her fiance was killed in a car crash

0:58 Bride in Indiana takes wedding day photos, 10 months after fiance killed in car crash Bride in Indiana takes wedding day photos, 10 months after fiance killed in car crash

Christin explained to the Insider that she wanted to share the photos “in order to foster discussion within my friends and following, specifically about the accessorization [sic] of black bodies for this couple’s photo shoot,” adding she took issue with the couple using “black and brown people and their experiences as props to gain a following” on social media.

Story continues below advertisement

Christin’s Facebook post has been shared nearly 10,000 times since Sunday.

“There are real artists out there who make amazing wedding photos,” reads a comment. “John Milton isn’t one of them. He could learn a thing or two from a real artist.”

“Please excuse me as I rip my flesh off,” reads another.