But did you ever try to pass those pieces off as entirely your own? Or did you do what an ethical artist would do and credit the original photos and the original photographer? Maybe even include a blurb with any exhibition explaining how you chose the reference photos? Sounds like you were both honest about where your subjects and composition originated and weren’t doing photo realism, which allowed you to make artistic choices when painting that substantially differentiated your pieces from your references. Btw, if you have photos, I’d love to see them in the making/crafting thread. I don’t think we have a separate art thread.
I don’t see anything wrong with using someone else’s photos as references if the artist has permission, ideally, and at the least makes it clear the original composition was from a photo by someone else. I think most people and most artists think that’s fine.
This jerk not only didn’t credit the original artists, he changed almost nothing when painting, he accepted prizes without revealing the composition was entirely someone else’s work, and then decided to lecture the artist whose work he stole and profited from. To make it even more odious, that artist was a woman so it came off as the worst kind of mansplaining and condescension. Like her work was worth nothing until he painted a copy.
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