the risks of sharing photos online
I love birds, I love taking photos of birds, I love talking about birds. What I don’t love is having my photographs used by artists without my permission. I post my photographs of birds on social media so everyone can enjoy them, and maybe even learn something about our native birds. So it saddens me that someone’s first reaction to a photo I post isn’t ‘wow I love that’ or even ‘what a cute bird’, their reaction is ‘I’m going to use this’.
I wish artists would realise that you cannot just take what you want from the internet/social media and use it to make money. That is someone else’s hard work you’re stealing. Finding something on google does not mean you can make derivative work from it. Every photo on the internet has been uploaded by a photographer, and behind every single photograph is years of practice, hours of patience, not to mention the monetary costs involved. In my case I have a degree in photography, so add the cost of a student loan to that list!
A comparison I offer to artists is ‘would an artist be happy for a photographer to take a photograph of their art without their permission and sell prints of it?’ I seriously doubt it. That is the equivalent to using a photographers photos without their permission.
I have had my photographs used by artists without my permission and when I approach them about it the response I get is ‘oh it came up on Google’. That’s putting it politely, I also get angry patronising messages back like ‘how dare you accuse me of this’, ‘who do you think you are’ and ‘look lady I’m not stealing your s*!t’. Really lovely stuff. Sadly a lot of people don’t see a problem with taking what they see on the internet and using it however they like. Google does not take photos, Google is just the middle-man, and just because something is on Google does not mean it’s free for anyone to use. It only takes one click to get to the source website for that image, there are simply no excuses to use an image without bothering to find out who owns the copyright for it and asking their permission. Saying ‘it came up on Google’ is just not good enough, even google states below each photograph ‘images may be subject to copyright’. But it seems that gets ignored, or it doesn’t register with some people.
People often say to me ‘why don't you put a watermark over your images’, well, for one reason it defeats the purpose of sharing a nice photograph, and the other reason is that it won’t stop someone from using it, or even cropping my name off. In New Zealand, once something original is created, whether it be a photograph, art or piece of writing, it is automatically protected by copyright law, and deemed as intellectual property. To copy anything or create work derivative from someone else’s work is a breach of intellectual property law. And it’s worth saying that just because something doesn’t have a copyright symbol on it doesn’t mean it is free to use. Paintings that hang in galleries don’t have copyright symbols on them, and are they free to copy and repurpose? No they are not.
Photography is a seriously undervalued art form (and yes it is art), especially as nowadays it is commonly considered that ‘anyone can take photos’. What would the internet be without photos? It would be very bland. A photographers work is their heart and soul, and the purpose of a photographer is not to create a database of photographs for artists to pick and choose from. Many of our native birds live in remote locations, and most New Zealanders will never get the chance to see them. Without nature photographers spending time and effort to track down these birds and share their photographs online we’d never see some species or have the chance appreciate them.
The reason I bought a camera capable of taking good bird photos was so that I can use only my own reference photos when illustrating birds, and as such the birds in my art would be in unique poses and have unique expressions. I quickly realised that when sharing my photos I could share facts about birds too and shine some light on their conservation status, and my photos could serve an educational purpose. I had a separate Instagram account dedicated to photography, on it which I shared many bird photos and facts, but I made the decision to close that account down earlier this year because I was discovering my photographs were being stolen, and I was also getting so many questions from people wanting to use my photos for themselves. It wouldn’t have been hard to see I’m an artist too, and it got really exhausting getting constant messages about people wanting to use my photos.
When I’m out exploring with my camera, I get a lot of comments about the size of my lens. There is actually a stigma about females and camera gear, as if we’re ‘not allowed’ to have large lenses, but that’s another issue for another time. I know not everyone can afford an expensive camera, but nowadays you don’t need one to get great photos. You can actually get great photos with inexpensive cameras, and there is always the option of buying a used camera. People seem to think because I have a ‘fancy camera’ I’m full of cash, well that’s far from the truth. I’m a self employed illustrator, I have bills to pay and if I’m taking time to take photos of birds, that’s time I’m not earning money doing work.
Bird photography is hard work! Birds are quite possibly the hardest thing to photograph, they are quick, most are small, most can fly and they love hiding behind leaves and branches. I actually don’t make any money from my photography, in fact it costs me money. I used my life savings to purchase my camera, I spend time travelling (which costs money), sometimes I travel to offshore islands and sanctuaries (that have transport or entry fees) then I sort through my photos, deleting the unusable ones (which takes a lot of time) I then download my photos to my computer (again more time) and then edit the photos - lightening, cropping and resizing them before spending more time writing captions about the birds that feature in the photos. By the time I post a photograph I am really proud of it, so when someone steals my photos you can imagine how upsetting it is, or if someone asks me if they can have my photo and use it for free I’m reluctant to say yes.
I do actually donate my photographs to charitable organisations like wildlife sanctuaries to use in promotional materials. I feel this is my way of giving back for all the inspiration sanctuaries give me. I am happy to donate my photographs in this instance as they are educational and inspire others to visit and experience nature for themselves, as well as generating funds for the sanctuaries. In saying this, it doesn’t mean my photos aren’t worth anything, they are still my property and even though they’re shared by someone else they’re not free to copy.
With the rise of social media, there seems to be a influx of emerging artists popping up, posting their creations and getting praise from their followers. Selling prints has become the norm, and the more artists that are out there, the more reference photos are needed. Since birds have become a popular subject in modern art, more and more people are painting them. It makes me sad that many of the artists painting birds have never seen them in real life. So why is everyone suddenly painting birds? Is is genuine passion, or is it because they sell? What’s the point in making art? Isn’t it to pay tribute to what you’re passionate about? It is for me, I love birds, I love nature, I am so inspired by birds that I have made a career out of them. I regularly visit and volunteer at Zealandia Ecosanctuary, I spend hours and hours with birds, learning about them, their personalities, their behaviours and what makes them unique. I love studying their feathers, their colours, and this time I invest in them helps me better illustrate them and create more genuine work.
I hope this post is educational and gives an insight into a photographers work, and how undervalued photograph is. I genuinely love taking photos, it is when I’m at my happiest. Being in the company of birds, which truly inspire me, is my happy place. I encourage other artists to get out there and experience birds for themselves rather than just surfing the web for references. It would create much more genuine and thoughtful art.
The purpose of this post is hopefully to educate artists and give an insight into how much work photography is, and how screen-shotting something found on google is not cool. It only takes one extra click to get to the source of the image and see who created it. If an artist does find something they want to reference, they should absolutely contact the photographer. I’ve put this little guide below to asking photographers about using their work.
If an artist finds a photograph they love and wish to ask the photographers permission there are right and wrong ways to go about asking, here’s a little guide.
What NOT to ask a photographer:
‘Can I use your photos?’. This question is the one I get asked the most. The question is vague and sounds like the asker wants a free pass to pick any photos to use however they want. I don’t think any photographer would agree to this, it’s quite an unreasonable request, also it’s unclear how the photograph will be used.
‘Can you send me your photos of ‘x’ bird?’ My photographs are filed by date, not by bird, so to find all my photos of a particular bird would take literally days of time, and I can’t afford to spend hours doing some else research.
‘I want to draw your photo, I’ll give you a shoutout’. Not even asking to use a photo, but demanding it is a bit rude. Even if you’re not making any money from it, you’re still gaining something, otherwise you wouldn’t be posting it online!
‘I want to draw your photo, I’ll give you a print’. Everyone has different tastes, the photographer may not like the artists particular style, putting them in an awkward position if they don’t particular want a print of the finished product.
Lots of people that ask to use my photos don’t bother to address me by name, my name is in my instagram username, it’s not hard to find. A bit of common courtesy goes a long way.
Here’s how I suggest to approach a photographer:
‘Hello (insert name), I absolutely adore your photographs and was wondering if you ever licence your photographs for artists to use. I would love to reference this photograph if it’s available (describe/link to photograph) to create a painting which I will be selling as an original. Please let me know your terms and price for licensing this image if this is possible and if this is something we can discuss further.’
I suggest being clear about what particular photograph will be used, and for what purpose/profit. Being polite and not assuming they’ll let you have use of the image for free.