Your thoughts? - read this.

stalkings, originally uploaded by lavendamemory.

So, I recently received an email from a... let's call him a mentor... I opened the email with excitement, wondering what he would have to say. It was not that kind of email, however.
The sole purpose of his email was to express his anger toward me. In so many words, he explained that I "clearly ripped him off" and have stolen his photographic techniques. In a few short sentences he made it very clear that I had offended him by my collection of black and white portraits. And let me tell you, I was stunned. I mean, I literally stared at the email for 3 minutes before remembering to take a breath.

He wrote that he'd been approached by several people who asked him if my pictures were his and when they found out they were not, said "it's exactly like yours". He went on to say that he felt upset that I chose to copy his techniques "pixel for pixel" before concluding that I am tactless.

*sigh.

My first response was to feel hurt. His email was obviously written out of anger and I understood immediately that he felt taken advantage of. But the truth is, I don't understand how he could make, or arrive to such claims.

First of all, I do not know how he processes his photos. More precisely, I have never seen him do so. We did meet in person a couple months ago, however to discuss his photography- at which point he shared his approach, technique and photographic goals. I absolutely loved his work. I did then, I do now. I was ecstatic to learn more about him. I even asked for his analysis on other famous photographs and how they were lit, shot, et cetera. He was very open to share his thoughts with me.

He told me that he likes to make his model's comfortable, often offering them a glass of wine. His favorite shots are candid. He shoots through objects, such as screen, glass and lace. He shoots mainly film- but uses digital as well. These are all things I know about him. All the "techniques".

Even if I had run home and stocked my cupboards full of cabernet and zinfandel- purchased lace, glass, and my own screen door- even if I had run out to buy a bunch of vintage, film cameras- if would have been my prerogative to do so. BUT I DIDN'T! I didn't begin romancing my models with wine, shopping for Holgas, or any of that! I do, however, shoot in black and white at times, YES. I do take portraits, YES. I have shot through lace, YES. That is the whole point of learning, right? So, please, somebody, anybody, everybody, tell me: does that make me a thief? An artistic sellout?

I am simply flabbergasted, frustrated, hurt. It is very difficult to have one's artistic integrity attacked.
As Ezra Pound once said "Utter originality is, of course, out of the question." So, who are any of us to talk?