Authorship and Collaboration

• How have you allowed the input of others to shape your photographic practice?

• What is your attitude towards drawing on the ideas of other people, or their work?

• Where do you see the line between ‘collaboration’ and ‘plagiarism’?

My role as a secondary teacher puts me in a collaborative mindset consistently. With each project my students pursue there is a healthy balance between exposing them to ample outside inspiration and encouraging their own unique ideas. Through the years I have frustratingly noticed the lack of originality given the same age group, environment, and mindset that my students create their photographs within. With this in mind, plagiarism can be tricky to pick up on and even more so to dismiss/embrace.

In a professional setting, plagiarism is unethical. I think most artists understand this to be true. There are, however, instances where an artist may have what he considers to be an original thought without realizing that a past influence has inspired it. Similarly, given that we humans traverse the same Earth with similar experiences, original ideas can often be repeated without awareness.