I’m writing this piece in response to recently finding one of my images (an image that hasn’t been licensed or paid for yet) being used for marketing on a well known website. The image I will be using as an example below is unrelated to the image referenced above and this will probably be the one and only time I express how I feel about it.

I am no newbie to the uncontrollable level in which images can go viral on the Internet. Back in 2010 I shot this photo and I continue to see it floating around on a daily basis. Occasionally the ethical people of the internets will link back to the original story which is great for me and Courtney who is the subject.

I understand that as a photographer images can be like baby birds and someday they will leave the nest and hopefully fly onto the front pages of Digg, Boing Boing and Reddit. Maybe they even move on to become a tattoo or demotivational poster. You hope they remember where they came from and you hope other people give credit to their maker. I know, I know, that’s a lot to ask.

Even worse than not giving someone credit for their photography is using it to sell super low-resolution tee shirts or stickers (someone is going to be disappointed when that delivery arrives) or promoting your shitty club night with pirated image while all your friends leave comments about how awesome your flyer is. This is unethical, bottom line.

I feel like I should also point out that the only amount of money I’ve ever made off this images is about enough for me to take my boyfriend to a movie (student discount prices) plus a tub of popcorn…maybe a candy too (small).  For the most part photographers are not rolling in the cash and early in our careers we are asked to work for nothing and deal with the expectation to give things away for free. That is usually the byproduct of people thinking that we should feel privileged to be working for them. Anyway, the point is that it is a constant battle for us to make sure credit is given and we are compensated for our work/time.

So until I can afford proper legal counsel I am left with a dilemma about image usage and the constant lack of respect to leave credits or links. I’ve fought every fiber of my photographic life to avoid using watermarks because 1. They are loud, narcissistic and distracting 2. They are usually horribly designed and make even the most beautiful of images instantly ugly. This is my conundrum and out of my internal frustration this rant exists. I’ll keep you posted on what I decide but until then please give us some credit and stop expecting free shit.  

S.