NSW photographer starts social media firestorm

A New South Wales, um, wedding photographer has received a barrage of criticism on social media after abusing a client on Facebook.

The couple

The client and couple: Ashlea and Daniel Howard. Source: Daily Telegraph

The photographer from the Southern Highlands of NSW, Lee Maxwell Judd, is actually a builder – but has been shooting photos ‘as a hobby’ for 20 years, The Daily Telegraph reports.

Ashlea and Daniel Howard said they knew they’d gotten themselves into strife when Mr  Maxwell-Judd began ‘drinking heavily’ at the wedding reception, an allegation the photographer denies.

When it came to receiving the photos, Mr Maxwell-Judd sent the USB stick to the wrong address, which began a text message exchange leading to the photographer telling Ashlea Howard to get her ‘head checked’.

He later apologised having realised he was at fault and sent the USB stick to the wrong Ashley, and Mrs Howard contacted the other Ashley to have the USB stick with the photos sent to the right address.

And what do you suppose happened next?

Upon viewing the photos, the couple says they were dissatisfied with the quality and demanded a refund.

‘There are some OK ones, however an album comprises an overview of the entire day,’ Mrs Howard told The Daily Telegraph. ‘We are missing quality photos of large chunks of the day due to blur and overexposure. Mainly outside at the ceremony and the bridal/family dances.’

Mr Maxwell-Judd was not willing to offer a refund. Instead he explained to the couple via e-mail that ‘something may have gone wrong in the file conversion or image transfer’.

He added that he had been a professional photographer for three decades, and ‘over-exposed, under-exposed and blurred images is a creative style’ of photography.

And this is where things go from unprofessional to… well, a public relations nightmare for the photographer.

He uploaded a picture of the couple (since removed) on his photography business Facebook page, and commented: ‘ugliest bride I have ever photographed. Winged the whole time. Bridezilla #(sic)’.

The image and accompanying comment that was supposedly written by a hacker. Source: Daily Telegraph

The image and accompanying comment that was supposedly written by a hacker. Source: Daily Telegraph

Mr Maxwell-Judd later told The Daily Telegraph that his Facebook account had been hacked and he wasn’t responsible for the post.

‘I don’t even know anything about that post,’ he said. ‘Not long after the hacking started to happen I just unpublished the page and I haven’t bothered to even go there.’

As the rogue Facebook account received more and more negative feedback from friends and family of the couple as well as the wider internet, it continued to fire abusive shots back.

Despite claiming no responsibility for what had been written, it appears the ‘hacked’ account references previous conversations with the client. It’s been speculated the account wasn’t hacked at all, but is simply a cover story from Mr Maxwell-Judd!

And it doesn’t quite end there.

After the story picked up attention from other media outlets, negative reviews and comments were continually served to Mr Maxwell-Judd’s photography business page.

A bit of this negative feedback landed on a UK photographer’s Facebook page, who incidentally shares the name Lee Maxwell.

Mrs Howard apologised to the UK photographer on his Facebook page, which Mr Maxwell-Judd screen captured and re-posted on his own Facebook page – implying that Mrs Howard apologised to him.

The real life Mr Maxwell-Judd told The Daily Telegraph he’s not all that bothered about the whole debacle. In fact, he turned it into a positive.

‘Since all of that’s happened I’ve had a lot of hits on my page and I’ve had a couple of inquiries and a deposit paid,’ he said.

While you’d imagine few would seek Mr Maxwell Judd for his photographic services anytime soon, he has received a lot of publicity – a valuable component of Google’s Search Engine Optimisation.

The photographer now has 481 reviews placing him with 1.7 stars on Facebook, but he’s also acquired 2082 Facebook likes – a 1445 jump from last week!

 


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