Today I would like to address an issue that is rife on Instagram, affecting photographers and influencers alike : crediting (or lack thereof). 

What inspired this article is a story, all too common, brought to my attention by streetstyle photographer Moeez Ali @moeeztali (23.4K followers). 

Sita Abellan, a Spanish influencer with nearly half a million followers (448K), reposted a streetstyle photograph taken of her and her boyfriend by French photographer Claire Guillon @cgstreetstyle (3337 followers), without crediting her. 

Upon noticing, someone commented on the post to tell her to respect the photographer’s work and credit her. Rather than admitting her wrongdoing, Abellan went on to comment ‘LMFAO’ to her boyfriend’s reply asking to respect them and not take their picture. Then why repost it ? 

This is particularly disappointing because Abellan herself has dabbled in photography – shooting Kim Kardashian for ODDA magazine - and so should know better. 

 You don’t see the problem ? Let me explain.  

Though some bloggers take their own pictures, most of them will have a photographer (or a few of them) in charge of doing all their imagery. From taking the shot to editing and even maybe helping with the location and the clothing choice, these photographers will be responsible for that blogger’s aesthetic. They will know how to make that person look the best and help them reach their full potential. 

Crediting is simply acknowledging their work and the part they had in the final result. 

Not doing so ? That’s theft.

If you think crediting a photographer is doing them a favour, think again. By law in the UK, the owner of a photograph is the photographer.
This means that when you don’t credit, you are breaching their rights and if they wanted to, they could sue you. 

Vice versa, the photographer wouldn’t have to credit the model but not doing so is just a bit of a d*** move.  

This might seem like a big fuss over nothing but a lot of the time, it’s a David VS Goliath situation. 

It’s happened to me many times: my pictures have been posted by Ellie Goulding for instance, but did you know about that? No, because I wasn’t credited, or paid, for any of it. 

I get a lot of clients that have seen my work on other people’s account, then decide they really like the images and find me through the credits. Depriving your photographer of that is denying them potential new clients and passing their work as your own.  

Brands tend to be even worse, because they will often use influencers’ images without crediting them (and let alone the photographers): my friend Lauren Black @imlaurenblack (29.1K) recently saw one of her pictures on the homepage and in the newsletter of a UK high street brand (965K) I will not name.
They didn’t credit, compensate or even ask her, whilst they are making a fortune thanks to influencers like her showing their products on Instagram. 

After she complained they added her name to the image, then a day later the image was replaced with someone else … That they didn’t credit.

So I hope next time you think twice about crediting your photographer because though it may be very little for you, it can make a huge difference for them. 

#giveuscredit 

Pictures: Marie Weidlich @LondonFashionToday shot by me Morgane Maurice.