‘Maternal Instinct’ on Netflix is a Wedding ceremony Images Nightmare

“I was scared to hire a photographer for my wedding,” says the sister of Reagan Simmons Hancock within the harrowing Netflix documentary Maternal Instinct. It’s not shocking. Her sister was murdered by her wedding ceremony photographer.

As a photographer who used to e book weddings, watching the occasions of Reagan Simmons Hancock’s homicide and the kidnapping of her unborn baby, it’s really a disgrace that Taylor Parker ever picked up a digicam.

Parker met Hancock when the latter booked her for a marriage and subsequently turned agency mates. I believe one of the best ways to explain Parker as a photographer is a weekend warrior. When the pictures she took at Hancock’s wedding ceremony had been flashed on the display screen, I gasped at how horrible they had been; poorly composed and terrible lighting. Nevertheless, Hancock’s household seems grateful the pictures exist and says they nonetheless have a look at them even as we speak — regardless of the actual fact they had been taken by Hancock’s assassin.

That’s the humorous factor about wedding ceremony images, it’s an unregulated trade the place actually anybody can determine they may do it. Some, presumably like Parker, see it as a facet hustle. Of course, mastering the artwork of wedding ceremony images takes years of coaching and requires a sure type of character.

In latest years, tales of wedding ceremony photographers not turning as much as shoots or working off with the cash have abounded. In one case, a state legal professional stepped in after a marriage images enterprise allegedly collected over $750,000 from {couples} with out offering a service.

But that’s small fry in comparison with the crime that Parker would go on to commit. Against the law for which she now faces the dying penalty.

Any right-thinking particular person can see that that is an especially uncommon case; there have been simply 15 fetal abductions by maternal eviscerations between 1987 and 2011 within the U.S., in keeping with The Guardian. Nevertheless, I can’t begrudge Hancock’s sister for being hesitant when hiring a marriage photographer, though she presumably did find yourself reserving one.

But sadly, such surprising and tragic occasions do have real-world penalties: simply this week, PetaPixel spoke to a North Carolina wedding ceremony photographer who simply occurs to have the identical identify as Parker. The unlucky coincidence has led to on-line harassment and a flurry of one-star opinions.

“It is affecting my business and my livelihood, and I’m very stressed out about it,” says Ashley Parker from Asheville, North Carolina. “My name is Taylor Parker. This girl’s name was Taylor Parker… I’m not the same person as the person in this Netflix documentary.”

Just like Ashley Parker from North Carolina, the overwhelming majority of wedding ceremony photographers are first rate, hard-working folks who’re striving to seize individuals’s massive days in the most effective and {most professional} method. Never let just a few dangerous apples spoil the bunch.