Hacking Photography - one Picture at a time
Can you imagine embezzling over $400,000 of state money to buy camera gear so you can take photos for Instagram? As crazy as it sounds, this actually happened.
A University of California professor reportedly spent $404,000 of state funds to buy himself cameras and lenses. No, he didn’t need them for science or teaching – he reportedly bought them to shoot photos for his Instagram and to sell prints on his website.
It happens that gear theft gets caught on security cameras. But a very weird footage was captured at an anti-racism rally in Toronto this Sunday. A thief was caught on camera while stealing a backpack full of camera gear – and it was all filmed by the gear’s very owner.
A few months ago a girl came in to apply for a social media position at my last job. I was one of three photographers at the company and we had an opening for another photographer position. She mentioned to the HR recruiter that she also does photography. The HR guy comes and grabs me to tell me this and was wondering if I wanted to interview her for the open photographer position as well. So I said, “Sure, let me see her portfolio.”
To my f*$#@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.”
On December 16, 2017, Calgary-based business The Camera Store had $35,000 worth of gear stolen from their store. The thieves took high-end gear, including a Leica MP Safari kit, a Hasselblad X1D camera, and three lenses. They are offering a $5,000 reward for any information that leads to a conviction.
Author note: This article contains a fair bit of profanity. Rather than censoring it, we’ll let you read it in its entirety and proceed with caution.
Detroit rapper Danny Brown has come under fire lately after a not-so-friendly encounter with a photographer.
If you were to take a screen shot of someone’s Instagram account and try selling it, two things would happen. The first is that you’d be told you’re violating the copyright of the photographer whose photo you’re selling, and secondly you’d be laughed at. Extensively.
It turns out, though, that if you’re famous enough you can take such a screen shot and not only bypass copyright but also make a fortune doing so.
The secret: slap some text on it.
Richard Prince has been using this method and some of his “artwork” is said to have been sold for $100,000.
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