Oh Pooh... Really, it's Oh Shit!
So, I get a phone call from Coop this morning, telling me that someone on Flickr has taken photos of me that he shot last year (actually from our very first shoot :), and created a new account, claiming that the photos are of them! The nerve!
I've been on Flickr for about a year and a half at this point, and have come across profiles with made-up personas and stolen photos. How do I know that they're stolen? - I've come across the exact same photos on other web sites. One was a nude pin-up model, and the other photos were from a stock photo site. The fakes have promptly taken down their Flickr pages.
Now, I take what I do very seriously. And for someone to not only steal from a photographer, to steal from a model, is beyond gutsy, if you ask me. Making up a new persona? I actually find it sad and pathetic, really. Stealing my face and my body.... pretending to be someone that they're not. Are they doing this for kicks? Or doing this cause they're a bit crazy? A little from column A, a little from column B, probably.
This isn't the first time that a photographer has had photos stolen... and I'm sure that it won't be the last. I know several who have had their work pop up on other sites, not just Flickr.
I will say this, for as many issues that I have with Flickr, they are very prompt in deleting accounts with stolen photos. Coop has had this happen to him in the past, and once an account gets enough blocks or complaints against them, they're gone - Flickr waves that magic delete button around.
Thanks everyone, for all your support. It really means something to me that you care. Of course, I'm sure that it doesn't hurt that in most of the pics I'm nude. ;)
7 comments:
That really sucks, I'm so sorry. I hope the gits in question get deleted by Flickr or whatever asaFp...
All the best, and much love and solidarity from a fellow creator (oliver_godby on Flickr),
Oli
It has happened to me many times and never gets any less frustrating. I agree that one very good thing about Flickr is that they deal with that sort of nonsense quite quickly.
Stay positive, hope to hear from you soon. :)
Probably not sick (unless it was a guy out to screw someone around), more likely just sad. Unhappy with their own appearance, and wanting that visceral reaction of being desired on sight. While I made peace a long time ago with my own ugly mug, I still occasionally have that desire: to have people want me without my having to be charming enough to make them overlook my lack of physical beauty.
That's not so say it's excusable. People need to be honest with themselves, otherwise they have NOTHING going for them - ugly within as well as without.
I'm sorry it happened to you, kid. Some folks would say it's flattering, but they don't understand that it steals something very intimate - no, not because you were naked, but because your pictures are a expression of something much more intimate: your soul. It may sound like hyperbole, but it's true.Between the photographer and yourself, you share something of yourselves that no amount of gynecological exploration reveals. The real inner you. I just hope this person hasn't given you pause. From what I've seen, you're a beautiful person on both sides of your skin. Don't let them take that away from you as well.
PS: this is Jefs_me from flicker...need to change my google ID to reflect that - Gadget was a persona from an MMO that I set the account up with initially. I prefer, ugly mug and all, to put myself out there, up front usually.
-Jeffery L Sargent, Canoga Park, CA.
As a photographer who had his work stolen many times before - that´s one of many troubles that the web exposition brings - i really get pissed off with those who takes our works without permission and use in inapropriated places. It´s a shame.
by the way, i wanna say that i´m a fan, cause your work is just amazing!
Congratulations.
www.flickr.com/photos/rfalcao
www.coffeeanddreams.blogspot.com
You might want to look at TinEye, which is a service (free), that finds duplicates of images on the web.
I've been happy with how it works.
Lazy fuckin bastards!
You and Coop are two of the most creative people I've ever seen. I suppose the fact that people copy you is a round-about way of complimenting you.
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