The other day a deviantArt member alerted me to the fact that someone on a different site, which shall remain nameless, had taken one of my pictures and posted it, making out she was the model in the image. I contacted the site and the image was taken down within hours.
But I could not help wondering at how bizarre this was. I know that photographers often have their images stolen by someone purporting to have taken them. But models having their image stolen by someone purporting to be them...well, I had not heard of it at all until it actually happened to me.
In many ways I am flattered, someone wants to be like me. There are many women whose looks and personality I admire, for example, I am a fan of Monica Bellucci and I would be happy to look like her - who would'nt, honestly? But I have not gone as far as taking one of Ms Bellucci's pictures and pretend I was the model nor could I ever do it. Because Monica Bellucci is who she is and I am me, it's that simple. I may however have tried to dress like she does - high heels, pencil skirts, long hair curled at the ends. That is because Ms Bellucci is a style icon and as such she is imitated by thousands of women. This, however, is not quite the same as attempting to impersonate her.
What kind of satisfaction does pretending to be someone else give you? Imagine if , as a model, I created an online profile using Monica Bellucci's photos. I'd be lucky if I were not found out within 24 hours, considering Ms Bellucci was, and still is, a supermodel and her face is well known. What would I get out of it?
In my case, as I am no supermodel, it took about seven months for this woman to be found out. So maybe this goes on quite a lot, only we are not always aware of it. Someone may steal our pictures and pretend to be us. I had always associated identity theft with credit card frauds and bank account scams. But I had not considered this could happen with images. At least not amongst adults.
I was very intrigued by it all and did some research on people pretending to be someone else online.
Impersonation (pretending to be someone else that exists and acting as if you were that person) is mainly illegal. Creating a fictional alias is not. When you create a fictional alias you do not use other people's images and/or details. You simply use a different name for yourself and some of your details are withheld. For example "Alex B" is my alias. This is not the name that appears on my passport. But in naming myself Alex B I am not breaking any law, in fact I am protecting myself and my privacy. If however I claimed to be Monica Bellucci and used her images in my folios to gain work as a model that would be impersonation and I could be prosecuted. I could, though I would not necessarily be, it would all depend on how far my impersonation went. Look at the proliferation of celebs sites on FB, many of them are not genuine at all. There are also times when impersonation is absolutely OK - there is a particular type of modelling, where models are 'lookalike' and may be asked to come along and act like the famous person they resemble (and get paid for it). This is however impersonation as a form of entertainment.
The question to ask is why want to be someone else? One could write a whole book about it and indeed there are many books on this subject. Wanting to be someone else is in all of us. What we do with it, how we channel this desire differs, and comes in many nuances. As a model, as a performer, I can be a bit of an impersonator in my photographic work, and that is absolutely fine. What is not fine is to cross that boundary between the real and the non-real and of course, intent matters.
The woman who impersonated me on that site was not really doing any harm, you may say. Well, not quite. That site is not to my taste, it is overtly erotic and having my own pictures on it does not suit me at all. That is the reason why I insisted on having the picture taken down, I would not want anyone to see my images there and get the impression I do a certain type of modelling work. No offence to those who do, it is simply not my cup of tea. I dont know what the woman was getting out of it, but her intent was not benevolent.
The bottom line is: if the intent is fraudulent or can be construed as fraudulent or causing concern or distress, impersonation is illegal. If the intent is to caricature or imitate someone, especially a public figure, in a context where it is fully understood that it is only play acting, then it is fine.
(All photos in this post by David Nuttall and modelled by Alex B)
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