Credit, acknowledgement, inspiration

Photographer: Elisabeth Jacobsen

I don't post every day, I only do so when something happens that is worth writing about. And something happened yesterday that called into question some of my beliefs and my terrible, terrible attitude.
First of all, I woud like to issue an apology. R. if you are reading this, please know that I am very sorry for overreacting and I really did not realise I would cause you distress. I did not appreciate that you were paying me a great compliment.
What happened made me come to terms with the fact that as a model my images are in the public domain. People may come across them and they may post them on their Facebook pages simply because they like them. They may not know who the woman in those images is and ultimately it does not matter. If they credit the photographer it is absolutely fine for them to use the photos - not to sell them, not to impersonate anyone but simply because they like them. I have myself used images of beautiful sunsets or landscapes, which I have found inspirational, in this very blog, and those images had not been taken by me nor was I modelling for them.
I am very careful about crediting photographers and also models, because I know that models love being credited, but I am also aware that it is not a real requirement to credit models, only a nice gesture of acknowledgement.

Photographer: David Newby for The Guardian

There are of course people that steal images and use them to impersonate someone, or claim that they are the person in the picture. This is plainly wrong. I came across something along those lines a while ago, when I spotted a would be model who had an online profile with pictures of me! I don't know who she was fooling, because when applying for castings with my photos, if she got a request to be seen  then photographers and clients would have definitely got a surprise when she turned up. How bizarre. Someone suggested that she probably did not go to castings, she just pretended to be a model and enjoyed receiving accolades for my pictures.
So when I discovered that a member of a Facebook group to which I belong had used one of my pictures as a cover, I fired off a stern message believing she was up to no good. It turned out that she had simply found the image inspiring.

This morning, after sleeping on it, I realised I had made a big mistake and did my best to apologise. I also reflected on this very issue of whether images such as the one this lovely woman used, or other images of me as a model, really are pictures of me. And my conclusion is that no, they are not. They are pictures of me as a model. Look for example at the images for White Hot Hair. It is my hair and to some extent my face but they are taken in such a way that anyone could identify with me, that is the whole point. And with this realisation the idea of being tagged or acknowledged also melts away.
I have also realised that I still have a big problem about accepting a compliment graciously, there is this little voice inside me that tells me that no, it cannot be true, something has to be wrong. A lot of work to do, it seems!
Thank you, anonymous Facebook friend, for teaching me an important lesson. And thank you for liking my photos and for acknowledging me as 'your inspiration'. I am really touched.

(Photos modelled by Alex B.)