Photog Squawks: Hawk Wedding Scandal Grows » Brats & Beer

May 22, 2007
posted under: AJ Hawk, Amy Harcar, Brady Quinn

The controversy surrounding A.J. Hawk’s wedding and the subsequent release of scandalous pictures from the festivities is threatening to take on a life of its own.

Probably stung by Hawk’s negative review of her services and comments that the pictures have become “an issue,” Amy Harcar, the photographer in question, is taking her side of the matter to the press. According a story on PackersNews.com, Harcar told the AP that the happy couple agreed to allow the photos for use in advertising and that she even got approval on the shots from Laura Hawk.

Of course, I’m pretty sure Laura probably wasn’t thinking through all the scenarios of what might happen if pictures from the wedding, especially the one of her brother Brady dancing around in leather chaps, found their way onto the Interweb. But Ms. Harcar is even more clueless about what happens when you publish potentially embarrassing photos of famous sports figures on a web site; she should have seen it coming. (Maybe she did and just hates Brady Quinn?)

In the end I hope this whole thing leads to a national referendum on wedding photographers. They run a shady, dirty business: The negatives and rights to the photos should belong to the people hiring the photographer, not the photographer. I call for federal legislation — we can call it Hawk’s Law — to end this practice.