A couple of weeks ago I came across a gallery that I was quite impressed with. I left a bunch of comments and even faved a shot that I particularly loved. I never got a response but never-the-less checked back for new work. But it seems that I have been wasting my time because I found out today that this gallery is the work of a ripper. They were taking shots from gettyimages.com and putting them up as their own. And here I am supporting them, taking the time to leave thought out comments telling them exactly what I like about their work and how it has impressed upon me. I feel sick. I feel like I had dinner at a restaurant in a foreign country and just found out that the yummy food I ate could have been someone’s house-pet back home. I don’t understand how anyone could get any satisfaction from ripping. I think everyone has artist potential, you don’t need technical excellence or professional skill, all you need is emotion. One of my favorite things about this site is the number of non-professionals. The work is not always polished but it displays ideas and raw creativity from my generation. It’s not all about, ‘will this art sell’, but more about, ‘did I express the feelings inside’, feelings I can usually closely relate too.
I could have been spending my time commenting on someone’s work that might actually get something out of what I say and have to say I am mad at that person for what they did to me and to the community. They only had the gallery up since December, and with only a handful of 1 and 2 word comments on others work, they had triple my page views and about ten times my watchers. That’s just not right…


To everyone (including rippers, I hope one day you realize what it is you are doing and that you will never truly get anything out of doing it)