Today's post is a little different folks - I'm writing a letter to the NYPost and putting it up here as well.
Dear Ms. Amaroso,
I have been digesting the article you wrote on Pinterest for the past few days trying to come up with a response. The article is a great synopsis of a lot of what makes Pinterest so popular, which I appreciate your take on. The reason I'm writing however is to let you know you've used my photograph to illustrate your story without proper photo crediting. That's my image up there, of Samantha Hutchinson of the very popular lifestyle blog, Could I Have That?. The picture was created for Tory Burch's blog, which was pinned as such by over 500 people, without crediting.
It is this notion of losing photo credit that makes Pinterest so incredibly frustrating and heart-breaking to us photographers and makers of original content. People pin images I've taken all the time without proper crediting. It's not a new issue, but it is a new medium that has busted the digital media world wide open. Not being able to imbed an original name/credit/link to an image is a problem I hope Pinterest rectifies in the near future, I know there's been a buzz about this in the design blogosphere with many opinions on a solution. You've inappropriately credited my work with 'COURTESY TORY BURCH VIA PINTEREST.' The New York Post is a print/online outlet that is making money. So is Pinterest. If the NY Post or Pinterest were a non-profit, I would feel differently about the situation. But you are stealing from me by using my image without my name.
I do not take pictures for fun. I create photographs for a living. I work hard as a photographer as I'm sure you do as a writer -- How would you like it if someone reposted your story exactly and credited as simply "NYPost.com"
Think about it.
Leela
Read Christina Amaroso's article for the NYPost here
