On 31 May, Gorillaz published a video for their song “Humility.” But photographer Jairo Melara discovered something in it. After watching the video, he realized that it contains a look and feel that is very similar to his photo shoot from two years earlier. A bit too similar.
Melara shoot for a Los Angeles-based company Fifth District. Back in 2016, he did a photo shoot at Venice Beach, with a model wearing roller skates, white stockings, green shorts and a white top. As a fan of Gorillaz, he saw the video for “Humility” when it was released. And it came as a shock to realize how similar the video was to his photo shoot. He even looked at the photos he had taken, just to make sure he’s not imagining. And indeed, the outfit is almost identical. Only the wheels on the skates are different.
Another similarity is that both the video and Melara’s photos were shot at Venice beach. Since his photos were geotagged on social media, Melara believes that this is how the team behind the Gorillaz video has found them.
After seeing the images and watching the video, I can’t deny that there are too many similarities, indeed. However, there’s the apparent difference as well: the model in Melara’s photos is a real person, while the character wearing the same outfit in the video is animated (as in all other Gorillaz videos). So even though the location and the outfit sure are similar, the medium is completely different. Still, I believe he should have been given credit for the idea if the video was inspired by his photos. Or maybe it was only a coincidence.
Here are the Gorillaz video and Melara’s photos, so you can see for yourself. What do you think? Should Melara have been given credit?
[via Peta Pixel]
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