Re: A question of using other peoples' photos

[Judy Seigel <jseigel@panix.com>]

Well said, John....   I'm trying to think of the exact quote now, from 
Picasso.  He is at least SAID to have said, geniuses steal. Hacks are 
influenced. (Or like that.)

It's often said, that there are no new ideas anyway. Or, one might argue, 
if they were any good, they'd have been used already. Most "ideas," good 
or bad, are revisions or retreads -- and enough are floating around to 
pollute the atmosphere already. What counts is the treatment. Not to 
mention that "art" has many voices, including camp, irony, parody & 
satire, the latter being exactly "fair use," and not indictible for 
plagiarism or copyright infringement. That's "freedom of expression," at 
least in this country. (Apparently different in England....)

And if they couldn't ape, imitate, parody or do a gloss on other TV, let 
alone art in general, what would they do for late night TV? (As I 
understand it anyway, I've never seen any.)

The insane are the only entirely "self-taught" artists I know of, and some 
of them also relate to other art.

Judy

> I think it one thing if you borrow  ideas and techniques  to teach yourself
> and another if you profess it to be your own  original work with the plan on
> profiting from it..... The difference is huge.
>        It  has been said each generation of artists is just the previous
> generations art work with a few  new twists....  Many photographers and
> graphic artists I have known  keep a large  " Morgue file" or a body of
> ideas in which they can
> draw on  for inspiration and ideas with the hopes of creating their own in a
> similar fashion with the idea of putting   their  own spin on it .
> jc