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Copying other photographer's work...?
Does anyone think that by looking at another photographer's work they might subconsciously reproduce at some point later on or do you think that looking at other ports can be beneficial? For that matter, has anyone ever copied another photographer's work either knowingly or unknowingly and if so, what'd did you do when you realized? Just a topic for discussion. May 28 06 11:44 am Link "We covet what we see everyday" -Dr. Hannibal Lechter May 28 06 11:46 am Link Colford Studios wrote: I copy other people work all the time. I'm a thief and a hack. May 28 06 11:48 am Link I personally wouldnt mind subconsciously creating a masterpiece that resembles someone elses masterpiece. I like it when people comment on my stuff using big names as my influences. there are also certain poses, techniques and styles being explored by millions of people but all their own way. copying is a big no. but being influenced is not something you can avoid. May 28 06 11:55 am Link This is interesting, I had a local girl (far cry from being a model) ask me to purposefully copy the style of another photographer in the area. When I told her no and to go to the photographer that she wanted copied, she got huffy and called me an asshole for not doing it. LOL May 28 06 11:59 am Link Koray wrote: Good point, perhaps I'm mixing up influenced with copying. It's easy to see similar styles/themes in some of my work that I also see in others work. I had a conversation with Greg Gorman about this topic and he said, "It's all been done before really, you just have to put your style to it." May 28 06 12:00 pm Link Colford Studios wrote: There is a long and noble tradition in the arts of copying the work of masters as a form of self-discipline and education. May 28 06 12:00 pm Link Copying another person's work is perfectly acceptable in the art world. Its the passing the said copied work as the orginal that is unacceptable. May 28 06 12:03 pm Link When I used to teach photography, one thing i'd tell my students was to pick the photogrephers they admire and respect and imitate them. Once they had perfected imitating the photographers they liked, they would have an understanding of what was involved to create that style of image and be able to devlope their own styles from there. I see nothing wrong with it and with there being so many photographers out there I'm sure every shot we take is imitating someone elses work, even if we've never seen it before. May 28 06 12:07 pm Link Koray wrote: Agreed. May 28 06 12:12 pm Link also creative people think alike ![]() May 28 06 12:12 pm Link I like to get ideas from other peoples work and add them to things I came up with on my own. May 28 06 12:12 pm Link Good point, Darren! I think that also once you develop your own style, if you see something you like and try to imitate it or let it influence you heavily . . . if there's enough of yourself in the image you produce, it should be plenty different from the original. As a self-assignment, I've tried to copy other photos and found it virtually impossible. Case in point is this photo on my avitar. Straight up influenced by an Albert Watson shot. Yeah, heels on a stove but they have different feels to them. I'm OK with this. Particularly in that the intent is to help me learn a little more. I think it's sorta like music. You learn some basics and chords and what not and then you learn how to play other people's songs before you write your own. (Generally speaking) May 28 06 12:17 pm Link I have to admit that I've found it next to impossible to "copy" another photo, at least that I'm aware of. But I have been able to identify the "influences" in a few of my images from time to time. May 28 06 12:19 pm Link In a magazine interview many years ago, one of the rich hand famous photographers (I don't recall who it was) commented, "All photographers borrow from each other on occasion but great photographers steal daily". May 28 06 12:52 pm Link When I was learning electric guitar, did I copy my brother? Hell No! I wanted to be Brian Setzer! Could I ever copy him? Of course not but it got me to develop my own style and Brian's influences are certainly there. Photography is sort of the same way. How much of what we see truly original? Some of my favorite shots are reinterpretations of familiar photos or styles. May 28 06 01:00 pm Link You can always find inspiration from others. YOu can try to "recreate" an image, a look, the feelings, a moment. eventually you develop your own style from all these little tid bits you borrow. May 28 06 01:03 pm Link If you copy 1 other person, it's plagarism. If you copy 20 other people, it's influence. May 28 06 01:52 pm Link Brian Diaz wrote: LMAO! May 28 06 01:53 pm Link Darren Green wrote: That was exactly my Photo 101 final project. May 28 06 01:54 pm Link I think you never can copy a work... Some people try to do it but always the pictures its different, Lighting, locations, etc... May 28 06 01:58 pm Link I am a combonation of all the people I've ever respected-- photography included. May 28 06 02:03 pm Link Daguerre wrote: True, I think that we're all a sum of people that we've respected or who otherwise respected. In fact included into that combination are people we don't respect/like, they've also taught us what NOT to do. May 28 06 02:06 pm Link It happens. But you add your own twist to it. This happened a lot when I was doing Standup Comedy. Many performers would do a bit that was oddly similar to something I had heard 20 minutes earlier. We all worked closely together, so many of the ideas start to bubble around in our collective minds until two people had the same material. This also happens, in its own way, with Improv (I do Improv with Second City). Oner performer will make a wild reference and it will stick with the other performers. They will make references to it and not realize that it had been used multiple times already! Obviously it is not intentional, but it is something to recognize! May 28 06 02:07 pm Link Michael Donovan wrote: That's what I think is the biggest/most likely scenario. May 28 06 02:08 pm Link "Creativity is knowing how to hide your sources" - Albert Einstein May 28 06 02:09 pm Link Justus Lowry wrote: Now that's a keeper! May 28 06 02:10 pm Link It is the sincerest form of flatery out there, when your work deserves to be copied. May 28 06 02:12 pm Link I am not a photographer but I am an artist and I know I am often inspired by other's work. I think it is unavoidable, but there has to be something fresh and new to the piece to keep it from being a cheap knock off. May 28 06 02:12 pm Link Colford Studios wrote: That's the most rediculous thing I've ever heard of. May 29 06 12:07 am Link For that matter, has anyone ever copied another photographer's work either knowingly or unknowingly and if so, what'd did you do when you realized? Just a topic for discussion. I have copied other's work subconciously and alternately have seen what I thought was original turn up in another photographer's port. I thin everything we do is based, consciously or otherwise, on what has gone before us. And I think it's okay. May 29 06 12:13 am Link Beginning photographers often start out trying to copy the style of a photographer they like. Once they have learned enough to handle their equipment and produce consistent results, they go on to find their own style. I often look at other ports to find lighting and posing styles I might like to try. May 29 06 12:48 am Link I have mix feelings about this. Getting inspired is one thing and copying is another. I did a spread for a new poker magazine with Jennifer H. (two times world poker series champion)...I used her dog in one of the the shots because she said it was her best friend after her husband: (the shots were supposed to be in life style editorial...natural feel with a joke here and there) http://www.photo.net/photodb/photo?photo_id=3088062 ![]() The "writer" paid the small amount that were supposed to...but they didn't publish the shots. Three-four weeks later a major ad agency came up with this ad for American Express: It could've been an accident if I didn't find out that the writer was linked to the agency. The funny thing is that he wrote me a week after that how much he enjoyed my images and he was sad they didn't print the article and spread and how he would love to work with me in future. I still am not sure if he really sold the idea to the ad agency or it was just an accident. I don't care usually but I did feel bad for few days after finding out his link to the agency. Mixed feelings I say! ![]() Cheers Wolf May 29 06 01:14 am Link Colford Studios wrote: I have this desire to take two black and white photographs. Each with the same four models. In the same exact poses. May 29 06 01:23 am Link I try to copy magazine ads all the time. Itâs a learning process to see if I can recreate the lighting. Not like Iâm selling it to magazines or anything. Just helps me understand what others are doing. May 29 06 01:57 am Link I DO take down lots of pictures, those which suggest or convey whatever i am hoping to acheive or just as a starting point for collaborations with photogs We arent generally copying (and I never ever post them, or say they are mine, dont worry!) we are just aiming for the simliar feel, pose, or devloping the idea coming across in that image however, its pretty rare have i got to use the pictures i saved on line with a photog and when we have looked at them together first, we still ended up doing something completely difderent of our own! But is great to see if we like the same work or aim for a certain look..Art is creating, but not always from stratch!! *Waits for hate mail - or questions about WHOSE work* ;-) May 29 06 02:04 am Link Even though it may be a copy, the actual and the copied piece will be one of its very own. The moment that happened that created each piece can never be duplicated. A photos own life comes out of the circumstance that occured to get the shot. May 29 06 02:12 am Link Habenero Photography wrote: that is so true. Whether for model photography, or just general photography, sometimes I find the way someone's taken a shot gives you a new way of seeing things that you hadn't noticed before. Then when you go and take some photos, you notice it more keenly. May 29 06 03:00 am Link Wolf189 wrote: So dish, did the dog beat her or what? May 29 06 07:34 am Link Learning is copying and refining what's worked before. Although I can rely solely on my own efforts, looking at what others have done accelerates that process until there's nothing left to learn. For me, I'll know it all by August 15, 2009 at 17:54:51 pm PST. You've been warned, so all of you have limited time to show me your best work. May 29 06 12:32 pm Link |