A street photographer who got ripped off by DKNY

[alfredo]

They wanted to use his photos at $50 each, but they are a multimillion dollar company. They can afford to pay fair market value, but they used them anyway without his permission.

http://www.humansofnewyork.com/

There are also some good images from Iran.

[Earth_First]

1. At least they attempted to make some restitution...

I wonder if he would go along with a lawyer willing to pick this up pro bono and go after the 100K.

I'm sure with enough exposure, this individual could find a willing partner.

[alfredo]

2. Still, they shouldn't be doing things that may require restitution.

[DrDan]

3. enjoyed those

particularly the ones from Iran

Spent 4 years in the Middle East and one of the most enjoyable things to do was visit the carpet shops - we did so about weekly and have a nice collection. Once you get to know those running the shops, and they know you are serious, then you get to see the good stuff.

[justiceischeap]

4. I agree that DKNY shouldn't be ripping off photographers

just because they can. That said... this guy isn't that good of a street photographer. I'm amazed at the press he's gotten for his mediocre work (or that DKNY would want to use it).

I only say this because I tend to follow some amazing street photographers and this guys' work pales in comparison.

LJ (If you're going to look at any of these links, please check this one out... I'm using bitly for this one cause the Flickr link messes up linking.)
Thomas Leuthard
Daniela Calzolari
piet flour
Rinzi Ruiz
Alέxandros Bairamidis

I could just keep posting one after another but instead, I'll just post this link to my Flickr favs if you wanna see more examples of great street photography. http://www.flickr.com/photos/justice_is_cheap/favorites

[alfredo]

5. I agree that he should be fairly compensated, but I don't

See him as among the top tier. His best work was in Iran.

It might have been on his page, but I saw a photo of Anne Leibowitz holding a Fuji X100. That's a camera I've lusted over since its release, but it is way too expensive.

Check out my flickr page below

[alfredo]

6. Excellent collection.

Every now and then Leica Rumors has videos about various street photographers. I came to the conclusion that you don't need a Leica to take mediocre photographs. Any camera can be abused.

[justiceischeap]

7. Just look at some of mine. :) nt

[alfredo]

8. Witch's house the kitchen for a camp, right? Decades of soil has buried the foundation.

I commented on the "silky water image." Though you lamented not getting the effect you wanted, the composition made up for the falls not being what you wanted.


You can't always get what you want
You can't always get what you want
You can't always get what you want
But if you try sometimes well you might find
You get what you need

[justiceischeap]

9. I was referring to some of my street photography actually

it's such a subjective genre anyway. I mean, what one person finds interesting someone else may not. But the guy in the OP looks like he's simply taking snapshots.

[alfredo]

11. I didn't see much out of the ordinary in the OP's work. I think NYDK was looking for a slice of

urban life, not art. I found the comments of more interest than the Photos.

[SouthernDonkey]

13. I really liked LJ's

I clicked your flickr link, and his stuff jumped out at me the most right off the bat.

[progressoid]

10. DKNY has made an offer...

New York street photographer Brandon Stanton, who runs the Humans of New York site, was approached by DKNY a few months ago for the purchase of 300 of his photos. The company wanted to use the images in their store windows all over the world, and offered Stanton $15,000 for them. Even though Stanton declined the offer, the company has been using his photos anyway... for free. Stanton found this out when a fan sent him photos from a DKNY store in Bangkok. He says, "The window is full of my photos. These photos were used without my knowledge, and without compensation."

...

Stanton told us this morning, "I just want to emphasize that I am not looking for personal compensation and have no interest in litigation. All I want is for them to make a $100,000 donation to the Bedford-Stuyvesant YMCA. It is my local YMCA and I've seen firsthand that it makes a big difference in the community. I think the money would help a lot of kids go to summer camp."

UPDATE: DKNY rep Aliza Licht sent along this comment, "We have immense respect for Brandon Stanton. We approached him to work with us on this visual program. He declined to participate in the project. We licensed and paid for photos from established photography service providers. However, it appears that inadertently the store in Bangkok used an internal mock up containing some of Mr. Stanton's images that were intended to merely show the direction of the spring visual program. We apologize for this error. We are making a charitable donation of $25,000 to the YMCA in Bedford-Stuyvesant in Mr. Stanton's name."

That is 1/4 of the amount Stanton asked them to donate, but this afternoon he told us, "The Bedford-Stuyvesant YMCA now has an extra $25,000 to help deserving kids go to summer camp. Of course, $100,000 would be even better, but it's hard to be upset about that outcome. For the sake of ending this, I'm going to cease my speculation and take DKNY at its word that the photos were used unintentionally."

http://gothamist.com/2013/02/25/dkny_uses_photographers_images_with.php

[alfredo]

12. A happy ending.