DIY Photography

Hacking Photography - one Picture at a time

  • News
  • Inspiration
  • Reviews
  • Tutorials
  • DIY
  • Gear
Search

Submit A Story

I interviewed a person who stole my photos

Feb 7, 2018 by Russell Alboroto 6 Comments

  • Share
  • Tweet
  • Flipboard
  • WhatsApp

A few months ago a girl came in to apply for a social media position at my last job. I was one of three photographers at the company and we had an opening for another photographer position. She mentioned to the HR recruiter that she also does photography. The HR guy comes and grabs me to tell me this and was wondering if I wanted to interview her for the open photographer position as well. So I said, “Sure, let me see her portfolio.”

To my f*$#@ing surprise my work was included her “portfolio”. I was in total shock and told the HR guy that she has stolen work on her portfolio. She had an engagement session and the couples same wedding on her website with very low-res photos. I took a few minutes to compose myself and decided to interview and ask about her work without “outing” her. I went into the interview with the HR guy and I asked her about her experience and what kind of gear she uses. She BS’d everything saying, “I have one of the “D” cameras, 7 lenses, a wide, a zoom, and super-zoom. I have it all.”

I even double checked and asked her, “so you shot all these photos in your portfolio?” She answered, “Yeah! Don’t they look good? I like them.” She lied straight to my face.

At this point, I still haven’t revealed myself and I didn’t plan to. I wish I did though. The HR guy said it would be better if you emailed her or called her. Pretty much the whole company knew what was going on and was shocked about the story. What were the odds? What are the chances of my photo stealer coming to apply for a job and I happened to interview her?

A few days later I called her up telling her,

Me: “Hey, we decided not to offer you the position because you have stolen work on your website.”

Photo thief: “I don’t believe so.”

Me: “Yeah you do! Those are my [darn] photos on my website and you need to take that [stuff] down!” (NICE VERSION)

Photo thief: “Ok” (Hangs up)

I contacted the couple who were in the stolen photos and apparently she knows the girl. She stole all the photos off their wedding album on Facebook and we all had a good laugh out of it.

Anyways, I guess I’m flattered. Those photos weren’t even my best work. If she was going to steal some, she should’ve stolen my best stuff. She took down her website a day later but I do have her social media accounts under close surveillance.

About the Author

Russell Alboroto is a wedding and lifestyle photographer based in Provo, Utah. If you’d like to see more of his work, make sure to check out his website and follow him on Instagram. This article was also published here and shared with permission.

FIND THIS INTERESTING? SHARE IT WITH YOUR FRIENDS!

  • Share
  • Tweet
  • Flipboard
  • WhatsApp

Related posts:

Arkansas Wants Every Person in Your Photos To Sign a Model Release. EVERY. SINGLE. PERSON. A photographer tries to buy a print of his own image from the person who stole it Google pulled 29 photo apps from the Play Store that stole photos and promoted scams This guy stole an iPhone and posted a selfie to victim’s Instagram

Filed Under: Inspiration Tagged With: Photo Stealers, Russell Alboroto, Stealing, stealing photos, Theft, Thief

« DxO shows how far phone cameras have come in just six years
Nine lesser-known Lightroom tricks to improve your editing experience »

Submit A Story

Get our FREE Lighting Book

DIYP lighting book cover

* download requires newsletter signup
DIYPhotography

Recent Comments

Free Resources

Advanced lighting book

Recent Posts

  • Sony teases upcoming ZV-E1 full-frame vlogging camera coming on March 29
  • The Xencelabs Pen Display 24 is silent, glare-free retouching tablet
  • Fall in love with astrophotography with these 10 space objects
  • Hipstamatic app relaunches as a social network, but only for iOS
  • Instagram now has ads even in search results. Sigh

Alex Baker is a portrait and lifestyle driven photographer based in Valencia, Spain. She works on a range of projects from commercial to fine art and has had work featured in publications such as The Daily Mail, Conde Nast Traveller and El Mundo, and has exhibited work across Europe

Dave Williams is an accomplished travel photographer, writer, and best-selling author from the UK. He is also a photography educator and published Aurora expert. Dave has traveled extensively in recent years, capturing stunning images from around the world in a modified van. His work has been featured in various publications and he has worked with notable brands such as Skoda, EE, Boeing, Huawei, Microsoft, BMW, Conde Nast, Electronic Arts, Discovery, BBC, The Guardian, ESPN, NBC, and many others.

John Aldred is a photographer with over 20 years of experience in the portrait and commercial worlds. He is based in Scotland and has been an early adopter - and occasional beta tester - of almost every digital imaging technology in that time. As well as his creative visual work, John uses 3D printing, electronics and programming to create his own photography and filmmaking tools and consults for a number of brands across the industry.

Dunja Djudjic is a multi-talented artist based in Novi Sad, Serbia. With 15 years of experience as a photographer, she specializes in capturing the beauty of nature, travel, and fine art. In addition to her photography, Dunja also expresses her creativity through writing, embroidery, and jewelry making.

Copyright © DIYPhotography 2006 - 2023 | About | Contact | Advertise | Write for DIYP | Full Disclosure | Privacy Policy