Comments on: Mark Seliger Rip Off

By: XOglan

XOglan — Thu, 28 May 2009 11:17:01 +0000

Да уж, автор блога на самом деле очень добрый и отзывчивый человек. Спасибо :)

By: Jeff Newman

Jeff Newman — Tue, 21 Apr 2009 23:31:18 +0000

Many are called few are chosen….Mark was blessed by being both called and chosen.How much was luck and how much was skill is a question to ask Mark(he’s pretty personable and a relatively accessible humanoid)but his skill level now is definitely way way up there w/ the gods like M.E Mark,Halisman,Parks, Bresson ,Hurrell,Liebowitz,et. al
I don’t know about bitter photographer and his buds….
We all have plenty to be bitter about nowadays but I don’t think Mark’s(or any one else’s for that matter )success is something to be bitter about.Why don’t you rant about something more rantworthy like absurdly low editorial rates worldwide,or amateur photogs and 9.00 usd per hour interns low bidding on bread and butter work,or Getty images trying to buy the whole world’s visual legacy for a nickel on the dollar in the endless quest for 100% market share,or all these fake web based “magazines” that are really a front for the old barbizon school of modeling scam,or hackers and picture thieves ,or microsoft and/or apple actively and passively enabling widespread theft of intellectual property,or mean people who kick puppies?????Leave Mark alone …the poor kid has had it rough….why doncha pick on someone with a good complexion?
The mexican guy’s work is more than derivative and even though artists
influence each other his ear’s should be boxed for blatant ripoffxploitation,there are just enough differences to make a lawsuit frivolous ….PS I still occasionally rip off the lighting from Mark’s Saturn campaign….its just too easy…sorry bud…

By: HA!

HA! — Fri, 20 Feb 2009 13:50:14 +0000

@bitter photographer, YES yes he is a filthy man parading around as this wonderful image maker. he loves to call whores to his hotel rooms and present them with disgusting requests.

By: Irene

Irene — Wed, 11 Feb 2009 00:57:16 +0000

We can’t relate to anyone in the copy images because we don’t know who they are that’s why it doesn’t work for us. The copies were made for the same campaign not for individual stories. Actually I think I would understand them in better context i.e Shepard Fairey. Some would say that he is a total rip off artists (I agree to that) but when you look at his work in the context it does seem interesting.

By: mitchell

mitchell — Fri, 06 Feb 2009 02:37:30 +0000

would the pic be the same if mark , instead of chris rock, would have used….. who is the guy in the mexican pik? does anybody know him? can you dip anybody in paint or does it have to be lennny krav? what format does mark use? can you get the same feel of genius with a 3 megapixel point and shoot? how many photographers in mexico have a nifty 3000000000 dollar 14ooooooooooooooooooooo pesos digital hasselblad back? did mark use the same drugs to sedate the cat as they did in the mexican shoot? how much did rolling stone pay for the chris shot? how much did gabriela get for the mexican rip off? i will contact televisa and ask them how much the charge per shoot and see if mark agrees to the price.

By: dreamingArtemis

dreamingArtemis — Tue, 03 Feb 2009 11:17:40 +0000

@Michael Schulz,
I concur, it felt like pathetic attempt. The ones by Mike had one thing the other guy could never replicate…..substance.

By: john mcd.

john mcd. — Mon, 02 Feb 2009 23:04:25 +0000

@A Photo Editor,

Bravo Rob!

By: jeremy roberts

jeremy roberts — Mon, 02 Feb 2009 19:08:02 +0000

@Giulio Sciorio, I think because when you try and copy pictures it just never works the same. But when you use images in your digital artwork you can change the look so much more that you wouldn’t even realize where the original came from. isn’t that why photoshop was invented?

http://www.supertouchart.com/2009/02/02/editorial-the-medium-is-the-message-shepard-fairey-and-the-art-of-appropriation/ has more on this story.

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Mon, 02 Feb 2009 18:52:03 +0000

[...] Sometimes it’s depressing just how derivative commercial photography can be. [A Photo Editor] [...]

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LAST DAY for FAIREY PROJECT | Coeur d'Alene High School Photography Blog — Mon, 02 Feb 2009 15:24:03 +0000

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By: A Photo Editor

A Photo Editor — Mon, 02 Feb 2009 14:18:32 +0000

@damnthatlion,
Yes of course all photographers are hacks… or so it would seem since I can’t write about anybody with out a comment from someone like you that they suck. Of course I wasn’t even writing about Mark but that doesn’t stop the jerks from getting a couple shots in at him.

By: damnthatlion

damnthatlion — Mon, 02 Feb 2009 13:25:28 +0000

Mark Seliger is a hack, one of the most uninspired photographers out there. See L’Uomo

By: Michael W

Michael W — Mon, 02 Feb 2009 11:45:34 +0000

http://thesydneymagazine.smh.com.au/
Something I noticed last week – the celebrity actor photo on the cover of glossy ‘Sydney magazine’ (that comes with the major daily newspaper) is somewhat reminiscent of the style of a high profile international portrait shooter. It was shot by a local photographer however. Homage seems to be very popular these days.

By: photolover

photolover — Sun, 01 Feb 2009 17:20:45 +0000

To quote the always brilliant “Simpsons” show:

“Mr. Burns: Get me Steven Spielberg!”

“Mr. Smithers: He’s unavailable.”

“Mr. Burns: Then get me his non-union Mexican equivalent!”

By: Kenneth Jarecke

Kenneth Jarecke — Sun, 01 Feb 2009 01:23:33 +0000

@Matt Mendelsohn, I remember that picture. I suppose you didn’t mention the fact that U.S.A. Today was going to reach about a thousand times more readers.

By: Stephen Sherman

Stephen Sherman — Sat, 31 Jan 2009 21:44:48 +0000

It’s nothing new.
It’s happens everywhere and all the time.
How many times have you been handed a layout with someone else’s photo comped in and told to “copy” the shot?

I once got a call from an assistant of mine who was working for another shooter across town.
It seems they where just sent a layout with my shot comped in and told to copy it.
At the time it was a highly distinctive style I was known for and the client new me.

By: katja heinemann

katja heinemann — Sat, 31 Jan 2009 15:18:19 +0000

@ Blue (11)
or, “All it takes is one art director to say “this guy is a genius and we CAN’T afford him” so let’s just copy his work – would also sum it up for me, and then in a second step, as you point out, somehow the derivative becomes the next thing. I am sure all of us can think of some careers that were built this way.

My guess is that in this case the copying was the strategy (and who knows, maybe they even thought of it as an homage.) Creatives have content copied all the time by the photographers they hire. Ad agencies use existing images for comping concepts and then rework those, etc etc etc. Ideally, the original artist is getting paid for that “in-house” usage, and the final product isn’t a cheap recreation. In the worst case, the end result is nothing but a bad copy and results in law suits.

One of the funniest memories from when I first started shooting editorially was when an intern at a local magazine called me up one day. I can’t recall if I wasn’t available or had already moved away, whatever, but the poor girl was asked by her editors to phone me and ask for the recipe for my special sauce, as her assignment was to shoot something “in my style”, and she needed to know how to do that. No joke. She was mortified.

By: Debra Frieden

Debra Frieden — Sat, 31 Jan 2009 12:26:34 +0000

@bitter photographer, Laughed and loved the running pop tart guy. Cool Mom. :-)

By: Gordon Moat

Gordon Moat — Sat, 31 Jan 2009 08:05:37 +0000

It’s not just Mexico. A vast realm of the emerging economies (i.e. third world) regularly rips off popular visual and audio works. Really, this does not surprise me at all, despite that it might shock a few people.

It would be interesting for the photographer in Mexico who did these to offer a few comments. I doubt that will happen, but it would be very interesting.

By: raymundo

raymundo — Sat, 31 Jan 2009 04:48:04 +0000

Televisa’s entire business model it’s been -for years- about copying someone else creativity… I grew up and Mexico and saw that for a couple of decades in Mexican TV… I feel sorry for the photographer who gave his creative integrity and follow Televisa’s game … the word ‘copyright’ in Mexico does not exist… if you ask an attorney in Mexico about copyright law, their response will be- copyright what?!?

By: Alin Dragulin

Alin Dragulin — Sat, 31 Jan 2009 03:43:32 +0000

¡Ay, caramba! A fine line between love and copyright infringement!

By: bitter photographer

bitter photographer — Sat, 31 Jan 2009 01:27:18 +0000

Mark seliger started out just like Chip Simons in 1986-87. he was shooting any editorial that he got…..no really style. in fact he shot just like chip at one point…fish eye or wide angle and soft box….

He somehow was destined to land one of the most covented positions in Commercial Photography.

The Rolling Stone – Chief photographer that he inherited from Annie.and a contract , that was very rare.

a few people made this decision. jann wenner, Annie and someone else .

Mark busted his ass for sure but he was no Joel Peter Witkin or anyone with
gifted talent. Instead he was some acned mofo from Texas that worked harder than anyone for that much money and schedule and if I was him i would not fuck it up either. HE HAD OPPORTUNITY and the rest is history.
Now fast forward 20 years and he learned on the job just like Annie did.

how many of you dudes were shooting in 1986 and making a living in NYC. without a lucky break in the fabulous world of Photography…

whats my point ? no point…fuck the point….. just that Mark Seliger is not a great photographer , he is a blessed person that did not fuck the opportunity that he got somehow back in da day…Yo…..he had deadlines
worked as hard as anybody that would have had that opportunity of a lifetime. Photography chose him…..but hes a scumbag….

By: Alleh Photography

Alleh Photography — Fri, 30 Jan 2009 23:54:45 +0000

On the legal side can he take action against the photographer or not? I don’t know much about international copyright laws and how they can be enforced.

Pretty bad copies though, they don’t engage the viewer at all.

By: DC photographer

DC photographer — Fri, 30 Jan 2009 23:14:59 +0000

Taking the cliché: “Imitation is the highest form…” a bit far. That’s the Third World for you : – See it, Steal it, Mass produce it and sell it back to the godless hordes.

By: grubernd

grubernd — Fri, 30 Jan 2009 21:15:18 +0000

shows once more, the idea isnt enough.
you have to understand it.
and be able to pull it off.

or he was just to forced to do those images by the image department… you never know.

By: john mcd.

john mcd. — Fri, 30 Jan 2009 19:57:56 +0000

I’m not sure about “keeping it real”(whatever that means), but he keeps it interesting with great ideas and flawless technique. He may have started out trying to be like Annie but in my book he left her behind a long time ago.

By: Blue

Blue — Fri, 30 Jan 2009 18:51:18 +0000

Well, granted these shots are a poor copy, it does go to show you that having good assistants, a great retoucher and top notch talent, not to mention a budget, can really help define a shot, .
Mark Seliger is a man with a fantastic vision, an eye for precision, and a gift at pulling personality from his personalities.
A tribute or homage this is not, at least not a gracious one.
All it takes is one art director at a major publication to say “this guy is a genius and we can afford him” and then the world of photography becomes even more of a joke.
Bless you Mark Seliger for keeping it real.

By: Debra Weiss

Debra Weiss — Fri, 30 Jan 2009 18:24:12 +0000

@stephen edgar,

Do you mean Phillipe Halsman?

Debra Weiss

By: Giulio Sciorio

Giulio Sciorio — Fri, 30 Jan 2009 17:58:24 +0000

So why is it that this photographer Gabriel Saavedra is not praised for his copies like how Shepard Fairey was with his Obama poster and all his other copy work?

Maybe because this copy artist sucks.

http://www.art-for-a-change.com/Obey/index.htm