I wanted to know the view of artists when it comes to patrons taking photos of your art work. I have been known to delete photos from cameras of those taking pictures without my permission. I don't quite understand the reasoning of artists that just let people come in to their booth with these huge cameras and take photos of their work...mainly 2-D art. I had a person with the the Sheriff Dept several years ago take a photo...made cards out of my art, photoshop my name out of the image and then used it as the Holiday Greeting card for the sheriff dept. I had to hire a lawyer send a letter and hope this person ceased...if not it was my understanding that it could cost 'me' several thousand dollars to fight this person in court. That translates to time and money I could not afford to be wrapped up just to slap someone else on the wrist.
Recently at an art show. I stopped a woman from taking a picture of my art and she was very upset. It was on a Sunday and after the show Rick and I decided to eat then go back and tear down our booth. We took our name tags off and went to a local diner only to be seated behind the same woman without her knowledge that we were there. As her friends came to join her they started sharing on their cameras the different images that they were going to go home and print out. Photo taking has become very common at the art shows and it just surprises me how many artist really don't mind one way or another if a customer takes a picture. My question is, why should they buy your art when they can just go home and print it out? I would welcome views on this topic...I'm not a guard dog...however, when it comes to protecting my art I have had to learn to watch my booth very carefully.
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Wow...I love that everyone took time about this issue. The feelings are quite mixed...so that might point to a continual problem for artists. I was surprised that artists with 3D art or artists with 2D under glass did not seem to mind their art being photographed. I use to be like you as well. This blog is a useful tool for all of us to share and I appreciate the feed back. I'm not hear to change anyones mind but to inform artists of the growing problem in this area. I'm one of those artist with several signs in her booth that says, 'NO PHOTOS'. It does not bother me that some may think that the sign looks tacky because those are the people that won't be pulled from their art show to fight for copyright infringment in court. I have been there and it is a huge waste of time. And, I must say a 2D arist friend had someone take a picture of his art work with glass on it...later he found out the same couple that took the picture they had taken and printed it out on canvas. He actually thought because it was under glass that they did not get a great photo. Then he decided to do the same thing and take a picture of the art work under glass as the couple had taken and print it out. He showed me the print...he sells it in his booth...it turned out that good. So with the advanced technology out there today...a copy can easily be done and in most cases the colors pumped up to be even better.
Another example to give you is a 3D artist friend that actually had her sculptures knocked off over in China and she had to change her medium because her sales plunged. Also, another Doll artists that found a complete magazine with over 15 of her dolls for sale in the magazine all from China...even the name of her dolls were kept by the company that copied her.
Cassandra, I wanted to address your comment as well. I do have a few collectors that have placed our art on their blogs and facebook page and I don't mind as long as they don't come in my booth with the signs posted and start taking pictures. And though your intentions are good its always that one person bent on stealing the image our using it on a 'hate based' blog that messes things up. But, if people ask I try to be nice and explain that our images are on our website. Before I placed signs in our booth everyone was taking pictures and at times our booth would be so full of people taking pictures...then they would leave without a sale being made. It remains an ongoing challenge...does drive me crazy at times.
I'm all about good karma in my booth and keeping good energy in my booth but I do get mad as hell when people don't respect your request. As for the saying, 'We should be honored if our work is being copied'...thats really BS. I had another artist come in my booth a few years ago while I was away and took multiple shots of my booth and images...then a year later bumped into him at an art show with art simular to mine. Like a idiot a year prior to all this I shared my process with him because his sweet little wife was in a car accident and he was a so-called minister of God. Boy, did I learn that lesson the hard way.
Either way, I appreciate all the input...I hope we all get a better understanding of whats happening with our images no matter the art medium.
I've shooed away photographers but one man was particularly crafty. Another vendor saw him behind a tree taking long shots of my work. He really must have wanted some of the images! Christmas Tree shop is also a violator of artists images and have been sued. I have even had other artists copy my work. I was a participant at an art show and, while strolling around the booths before the show opened, I saw one of my paintings in another booth. I was shocked as the painting was a composite of different photos I had taken. Then I remembered that the image had been on the cover of a local art & craft directory. The woman must have copied it from there. I didn't say anything to her even though that same image was in my photo album of sold pieces at my booth. It wasn't worth embarassing her in front of her friends. Another member of the group saw the image and said that they were not supposed to copy anything as it was to be all original art. I suspect she was told later on about my being there.
You just never know who will be in your booth. I had never done the show before, was not a member of the art organization and it was a fair distance from where I live. Never found out if she sold the piece.
I have a pretty relaxed attitude toward photos. "No photos" signs are pretty tacky and people don't read them anyway. My work is 3-dimensional, not easy to copy, and my designs are constantly changing. My problem is people posing their friends in front of pieces and being disruptive to people actually interested in buying. We usually kick them out. If they ask politely, we say, "one quick one" and that seems to work.
This weekend at Uptown I noticed a guy in the aisle with pretty sophisticated camera equipment focusing on the booth. I was busy at the time - when I looked up again he was focusing from a different angle, so I went into the aisle to confront him. He said he was from the local newspaper and didn't want to interrupt me to ask permission. I told him that was totally wrong and he should have credentials hanging around his neck. He then got credentials from his wallet - he was legit. I let him hang around the booth for a while - he shot and interviewed customers and a photo of our booth was in the paper the next day.
On Sunday an official Uptown photographer came around - lots of credentials around his neck - and asked to take a photo. I told him about my experience with the newspaper guy - he agreed that was totally wrong, the credentials should be obviously in full view - commented that probably he was really young - and yes, he was.
She honestly thought I was the one who taught the class. She asked if I lived part of the year in FL. I finally figured out what happened after asking her some details. The Facebook image I had posted was the one she referred to and that was the only way an image of mine could have been lifted.
(And yeah, I cringe to think of the "student version" that is hanging in her living room.... )
On the other hand, someone could come in to my booth and buy a giclee" reproduction and do the same thing, so I guess there's no reason to get too upset. That's life.
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