It’s not plagiarism, it’s just a meme. Except in the case of Burdeny; that is plagiarism!

REPETITION IS DIFFERENT TO PLAGIARISM

I just posted on Christopher Sims’ series Hearts and Minds. It recalled the work of Todd Deutsch, Philip Toledano, Robbie Cooper, Adriaan van der Ploeg and Shuana Frischkorn who have all pointed their lenses at engrossed computer-gamers.

Joerg, Harlan and Hey, Hot Shot! have all mentioned this obvious repetition of subject before. The gamer-portrait-meme is so recognisable/memorable that accusations of plagiarism are foolhardy. None of these photographers are trying to pass off the idea as their own nor obscure the work of other artists.

ON BURDENY

Burdeny, on the other hand, tried to hoodwink his audience and pass off the idea of the work as his own. That is the difference.

Burdeny shows a deliberate interest in replicating exactly on at least half a dozen occasions the work of a single artist’s work – Sze Tsung Leong’s work. Did Burdeny research Leong’s GPS coordinates?

I must presume Burdeny is a provocateur and that he manufactured this stunt to either get away with it, OR  – worst case scenario – become the talk of the town. All publicity is …

To me, Burdeny will always be the bloke that ripped of that other photographer. Terrible decision making and a tough reputation to push back against. What a prat. It’s just bad form. People have repeated to me many times that the photography world is small. If that is indeed true then Burdeny might struggle from here on in?

NB. The repeated assertion that the photography world is small may or may not be true, it might be a meme. It’s definitely not plagiarism.

GAMERS IN PHOTOGRAPHY