[su_dropcap style=”flat”]A[/su_dropcap]CTUALLY, 878 Words (“keeping it real”). I work in an industry that thrives on recognition. I’m sure many of you do, but in my industry the need and desire to be noticed has gone beyond the norm for some, and led them to a very dark place. I’m talking about plagiarism.
In the photography business, it’s commonplace – and even expected – to have a blog. Blogs give photographers an outlet to connect with their clients on a more personal level by posting funny stories and anecdotes of their daily routines in photography. And for photographers who derive an income by selling workshops and seminars to other photographers, their blog is a chance to attract, entertain, and inspire potential buyers (other photographers) for their seminars and workshops.
In a downturned economy, where photography is a luxury item, many photographers are struggling for new clients. At the same time – and for the same reason (sour economy) – many newcomers have entered the profession, either hoping to cash in on what they perceive as easy money, or just to generate some additional income until they land another good paying job. A few – a very rare few – have come to the industry with a real desire to make it their life’s work.
Suddenly, there’s a perfect storm brewing. On one hand you have photographers with little to no business, on the other hand you have the hungry, naïve newcomers with dollar signs in their eyes and looking for shortcuts to riches. The result was the birth of an entire industry of photographers giving workshops to other photographers. In fact, it’s now pretty much a given, that the only money to be made in photography anymore is from selling workshops, shortcuts, and “secrets to success” to new photographers – NOT by selling images to the general public.
Well, if you’re going to shift into the workshop industry, you’ll need to raise your Internet presence and do what’s necessary to gain, entertain, wow, impress, and convince your “fan base” that you’re hip, smart, clever, and successful enough to have something to offer. That’s where your blog comes in.
Unfortunately, good photographers don’t always make good photography instructors, and REALLY unfortunately, a good blog can make a bad photographer or a bad “workshop giver” LOOK like a very successful, funny, clever, hip, and smart photographer.
Recently, it’s come to light that a few of the industry’s leading “workshop givers” have been plagiarizing their blog posts, Facebook status updates, and tweets, all in an effort to impress their fan base and elevate their rock star status’. In one case, entire blog posts (a few dozen) were copied and pasted, typos and all, into a photographer’s blog. They came from all over, but mostly outside the industry. They were funny, clever, and inspiring stories, some were actually personalized with a few minor tweaks to avoid blowing their cover. Not once did they give credit to the original authors, but quickly basked in the adoration and compliments of their readers for being so inspirational and funny.
When finally outed by readers (and make no mistake, Facebook can make anything viral in a matter of minutes), the knee jerk reaction was “I hired someone to handle my social media. It was a mistake. I didn’t know.” Of course, in one case, there were stolen blog posts where names were changed to personalize it to the plagiarizer, and in another case, the photographer in question presented themselves and gave workshops on “keeping it real,” so either way, they weren’t practicing what they preached.
Sadly – VERY sadly – a great majority of those who followed and adored their rock star work-shoppers, stood by their idols and defended them as victims of “Internet bullying.” Plagiarizing the written word was – to them – NOT considered a big deal. After all, “Everyone does it! It’s not like they were stealing images and presenting them as their own.”
Really? You can seriously say that with a straight face? If a picture is worth a thousand words, and they lifted a hundred thousand words, then they lifted a hundred images, right? <insert sarcastic – yet genuine smile here>
One work-shopper lost some, but not all, of her corporate sponsorship, yet she’s still being listed as a featured speaker at a national convention in 2014. The other didn’t seem to be phased at all. He went “quiet” for a few weeks, then resumed business as usual… with a rather thinned out blog.
These days, with the Internet cutting research on a subject down from weeks to seconds, and the copy and paste features literally at your fingertips, it’s easy to see how alluring it can be to shortcut your way to appearing smarter than you really are. Unfortunately, those who are caught and called out, rarely get the spanking they deserve. Social media can make or break careers, but only temporarily. One only has to look at the comeback ability of Hollywood stars (i.e. Lohan, Sheen, Baldwin), to realize that no matter how bad they behave, everyone forgets in due time. Well, some forget, some forgive, but there’s a whole new wave of newcomers due to hit the industry by this time tomorrow and they never even knew to begin with.
