I can remember the exact moment that I found out my art was being stolen and used by businesses for their profit. I was a few months in to working a job in recruiting at a video game company based in Seattle. I scheduled every interview and helped greet the interviewees by riding in on a Razor scooter, cracking a joke as an attempt to break their nerves. At the time, I was spending every extra dollar I had on ingredients to photograph and cook. I was practically broke, but surviving and making art I was proud of. The thing is- 11 years later and the reality is similar, minus the video game company and scooter.
Every once in a while I will feel a very strong urge to do something, or in some moments, avoid something- a gut instinct. I was at my desk about to begin a break and the idea to reverse image search some of my photos popped into my head for the first time. Wright Kitchen was a year old and a hobby, but I could feel the growth potential. So, I searched.
It was everywhere.
My name was nowhere.
I’ve tried to explain how I felt in that moment, and every single time I reverse image search my art. It’s impressively tough to put into words. I’ve never used a weighted blanket before, but I imagine it would feel like that. Except if the blanket was a huge mistake of a purchase and made you feel extremely claustrophobic and every negative feeling started to spin in your head at once. Like you want to get up and run, but lay on the ground crying at the same time.
For 11 years I have watched my work be used by others and treated as their own. I cannot express how tired I am of it. Hundreds of thousands of times. Maybe millions at this point. It’s everywhere.
It would be easier to hone in on one image, or one style of business that uses it most. But, every photo I’ve created has been stolen and by every style of business you can imagine. I find photos I completely forgot I took.
My Banana and Toast Gradient photos are the ones that get stolen the most to my knowledge. They haven’t been turned into memes exactly, but something close that grabs attention in hopes of gaining followers and comments from what I can see.
A newer change has been with Instagram Reels, YouTube and Tiktok, posting the image as a video because more and longer views means more money for the “content creator.”
My photos are on virus-ridden websites, so I can’t even see them. They are on so many porn websites, it’s amazing how many ways a banana can be used as clickbait.
In attempts to have my photos pulled down, there have been times where I was asked to send in the raw images, metadata and any behind the scenes photos I had as proof because I wasn’t believed when I said the photo was mine. It’s rare for me to see the original photo shared without numbers and an urgent questioning of how ripe you like your banana.
It breaks my heart that I cannot look at either of those photos without imagining the numbers added to them.
All of this created a fear of sharing my art and it took years to eventually move forward. I had a hard time creating art for years, and it wasn’t until last year that my spark began to grow back. Every image I post is stolen in some form daily, but I tell myself the art is worth the heartbreak. The effect of this grinds at me though, a lot. I try not to think about it, but I often get caught in a mental tunnel featuring an emotionally sinking montage-esque reel of the thousands of links to go through. The kind where you freeze and zone out into nothing and have to snap out of it.
I have a hope that people can realize that if this keeps happening, the quality of art put out will suffer, or the artists will start to close up shop for good. We make art because we are passionate, emotional people. I love food so much that making art with it to celebrate the beauty is an essential need for me. I will always stand up and fight for my art, but all of this really chips away at the spirit.
It stings extra to see creative agencies, artists, stylists or even small business focused companies using my work to promote theirs. I have seen it tons of times and it’s shocking each time.
I tried long ago to take this whole mess as a compliment, or a sign that my art was loved by the masses. That’s tough when most have no idea where it originated, or even think to wonder who made it. I have lost count how many times I’ve shown people my work and they explode “I HAVE SEEN THIS TOAST PHOTO BEFORE SOMEWHERE!”
One of my biggest fears is that my art will see its greatest successes when I am long gone, and others will continue to be the ones to profit greatly.
I do not only focus my successes around their financial gain. But, if there is no income, there is no art. My joke about how I’m unable to be a starving artist because I’m a food photographer, only broke, feels a little too real sometimes.
For the first time in years, I took a lot of time to really dig deep and see what has become of my art online. This requires strong mental preparation and accepting that my next few days may be completely ruined depending on what I see. I am a very positive person, but a dark cloud looms over every thing for me after, no matter how many times I’ve seen it.
It is worse than it’s ever been. Hundreds of my pieces of art are being used in, what I’m convinced to be, every country. I have learned about countries I didn’t know existed. Some of the versions of my photos I’ve found look like they’ve been sitting out in the sun for a few years.
There are so many companies using my work to advertise their products and services, or using it to gain traffic and followers. I recently went through thousands and thousands and thousands of infringements. Many I can likely do nothing about based on their location and lack of jurisdiction. All while having a few hundred dollars in my bank account.
I don’t know how my situation compares to others’ but I know that it is severe and completely out of control, even if you kept your eye on it everyday. I used to check weekly but I have had to pull the reins back over the years for my mental health because it could be a full-time job.
It’s been an interesting moment in life lately that I assume I will remember forever. Erin and I have made Wright Kitchen the best it’s ever been. We work hard everyday and are immensely proud. But, the end of Summer through the beginning of Fall is the hardest time for small businesses. There’s a weird irony having the lowest sales of the year alongside watching my work get ripped apart and chopped into something almost unrecognizable to fit a brand’s aesthetic with their logo added. It really hurts.
Hard to not go for the ol “if I had a dollar for every time…” I would literally be a millionaire.
My hope is that a conversation will continue and grow about image use. I am happy to be the example if it helps make change and awareness. Especially since I have, what feels like, endless examples. I haven’t written this deeply about it in years but I am ready to speak because this story is not told enough. Especially since there appears to be no stopping.
Thank you to everyone that has actually supported my art by buying it.
Thank you to the companies that have actually hired me by paying me for it.
Thank you to everyone that has asked permission.
I want to create forever.
I just want my name with it.