strangers in the wind by Gabrielle Hennessey / © All Rights Reserved

After my post here, I realise that a lot of you would like to know more of the particulars about how I found these sites, what they are, and what you could do to help.

I found the first several sites after Google-searching my name, which sounds vain but is actually something I do relatively often in order to keep abreast of situations like this. I like to see how exactly people are finding my images, because that tells me a lot about why they’re interested in my photos in the first place.

As of publication of this post, I have gotten confirmation back from RapidshareGFX, WarezRocker, Virtual Download, Freesharez, GuruDL, and Uploadbox, who have since removed the content. The last is a file upload site like Megaupload, which a lot of other websites have been linking to as mirrors; actually there were two files on Uploadbox containing my photos, but I haven’t heard back about the second one yet because I didn’t find that one until today.

However, I still have not heard back from downTURK, nor have I heard anything from one person I’ve emailed five times already, who is the contact for BoyGJ.  If you have a bit of extra time and would like to help me out, you can send an email to gaojian8@hotmail.com. This is what I’ve written to him; you of course can write whatever you want, but I’d prefer if you kept it civil:

To whom it may concern,

My name is Gabrielle Hennessey and I am the artist and photographer behind all the images within the RAR file offered on your website here:
http://www.boygj.com/gabrielle-hennessey-photoworks

which were originally posted on my Flickr account, as seen here:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/gmhennessey/

Every original photo from the above link also includes the words “All rights reserved” under the heading “Additional Information,” found on the right side of each image on the webpage. They have been listed as such since the files were first uploaded.

These images are copyrighted and all rights are reserved; I have not given permission for anyone to offer these images as downloadable content on either the BoyGJ website or anywhere else.However, I have found them here:
http://www.boygj.com/gabrielle-hennessey-photoworks

This content has been uploaded to your website unlawfully and is an infringement of my images’ copyrights. Please contact me at gmhennessey@gmail.com for any other information you may need.

Respectfully,
Gabrielle Hennessey
gmhennessey@gmail.com
http://www.flickr.com/photos/gmhennessey/

I noticed also that works by Benjamin Delacour have been attributed to my name as well. Somewhere along the line, my photos were grouped with his and available for download, and the sophisticated prosimians who are reposting these image files on various websites don’t seem to notice the difference.

Aside from downTURK and gaojian8@hotmail.com, I have also not heard from five other website contacts; just now I went through my “sent email” box to check if the links within each email were still live. Now when I go to them, they all redirect to the Freesharez site (although none of them did this before when I first found them) and give me the message that there is no file available there. Is this smoke and mirrors, or have they all been successfully deleted? (At least for now…)

Thanks for all your support and suggestions over the past few days. If anyone knows of a free webhosting site where I can easily set up a portfolio that doesn’t look balls nasty, I would love to know. I know of WordPress (obviously), and I guess Blogspot is still a choice even though I just switched from there, but any other suggestions wouls be great. I do have a Carbonmade site, but because of the image restriction I’ve made that strictly my fashion portfolio site.

But Home Is Nowhere by Gabrielle Hennessey / © All Rights Reserved

This is one step cooler than the couches-in-a-field in Donnie Darko.

Lilya Brik by Alexander Rodchenko, 1924

fellow Alexander McQueen lovers [who also don't have the funds to buy his clothes]:

Go here, get ready, and start saving up for McQ at Target!!

I’ll be over here drooling and having fantasies.

Yet by Gabrielle Hennessey / © All Rights Reserved

What’s that?

Rather recently I posted a photo onto Flickr, and a day later someone told me that they were “inspired” by my photo, to which they provided a link of his/her own take.

It was the same bloody photo.

“Inspiration” means seeing something outside of oneself and using aspects of that certain something to create a distinctly different Something Else, with some sort of change in style, outlook, etc. that offers something new. (Why aren’t there any synonyms for the word “something”?)

I understand “inspiration.” I deal with it everyday.

But don’t tell me that something is inspired by something else without somehow (sorry for the cliché) bringing something new to the table.

(Clichés are equally unoriginal. I apologise.)

The afforementioned person’s photo was, compositionally, exactly the same except for being reflected horizontally. The person within the photo was obviously different, as was the colour scheme, but to say that it was “inspired” by my own work is a bit absurd.

I had to wrestle with myself for a while to decide whether to ask that person to remove his/her photo, as I felt it too much a copy of my own original work. At the moment I’ve decided to let it go because the person is not passing it off as original work, and I’m sure this person didn’t mean to offend me as he/she does have a link back to my image (which, hopefully, could bring more traffic to my photostream)… but I can’t help feeling like it’s a bit rude. It’s the asian in me taking over, I suppose…

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Update:

Someone commented on the other person’s photo how bloody creative it is, and how it gives her an idea for a photo of her own…

Where does it stop?

Precipice by Gabrielle Hennessey / © All Rights Reserved

prec·i·pice (\ˈpre-s(ə-)pəs\)
noun: French, from Middle French, from Latin praecipitium, from praecipit-, praeceps headlong, from prae- + caput head
1: a very steep or overhanging place
2: a hazardous situation; broadly: brink

This week’s Super Sábado is a word to which I can relate much better after finally starting my last year of uni this week and fully realising the incredible amount of work I will have over the next several months.

I’ve already had the freak-out moment of questioning whether I chose the right career, and whether I actually have talent, and whether I’ll be able to make it out in the real world.  I lost too much sleep over it and I anticipate that moment happening at least six more times before graduation.  Oy gevalt.

I calmed down a bit after being cliché and reading Frost’s The Road Not Taken:

Two woods diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;

Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,

And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.

I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I–
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.

Years ago I thought the only way to live successfully was to do something useful and practical and expected, to become yet another doctor, journalist, teacher, et al.  I’m a far cry from being fearless about my vocational choice, and I have tremendous respect for those who do decide to live a life of academia because I know I’m too selfish to do the same.

I think all artists are selfish.  We spend our entire lives creating things that may not even apply to anyone other than ourselves, just so we can satisfy some sort of mental or emotional need to create, which we can never fully explain to non-artist types.  We make messes.  We have fun.  And yet the selfishness of human creation is just as necessary as medicine because it reminds us just how human we are.

After all, any animal can eat and sleep and reproduce, but only humans can appreciate colours and shapes and the special way that slivers of light can wrap themselves around a woman’s clavicle.

Would the human race die if it didn’t have art?  Probably not.  Would artists die if they couldn’t be creators?  Not immediately.

But we would make miserable surgeons and terrible accountants so maybe it’s better off just letting us play.

I go through cycles of thought every few months where I doubt my life choices, but I think this time I’ve finally let go of the feeling that I need to fit within the world’s idea of an intellect in order to be clever and relevant to humanity.  Really the main fear now is that I’ll get out into the real world and find that I’m not “good enough” (whatever that means) to support myself by doing something I love, and by the time I realise this it will be too late to turn back.

The selfishness of being an artist is repaid through an artist’s uncertainty of tomorrow’s dinner.  And that scares me.

I’m staring down over the edge of the cliff at all the things that will bring me to where I need to go.  And in about eight months I’ll be at the top of yet another ravine, looking at the rest of my life and hoping to have the strength to jump headlong, without knowing whether I’ll land safely or whether I’ll be dashed upon the rocks below.

Funny how life can be both an ascent and a descent at the same exact moment in time.

Lumière by Gabrielle Hennessey / © All Rights Reserved

Dear Flickr contacts,

I want to involve you all in my creative process.

Every Saturday starting tonight, I would like you to submit (via Flickrmail, with “SS” as the subject) a word for me to create a photo of.  I do ask you of course to be respectful and not pick a word that is derogatory or offensive, because I will not choose it and will most likely reconsider keeping in contact with you in the future.

Be as creative or unusual or obscure as you’d like!  The word can be a noun, verb, adjective, emotion, cupcake flavour – whatever you want. As an English-speaker I do prefer them to be English words, unless they are borrow-words from other languages that have been formally adopted into the English language.

The deadline for word submissions for each week will be 10pm Wednesday EST, which is when I will review the submissions, and on Saturday I will post a photo of the week’s word.  And then the process starts all over again!

My [final!] year of uni will commence in about a week, and once classes start I still want to be taking photos whenever I have time.

I’d love for you all to be a part of the fun!  Let the games begin!

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Update:

I’ve decided to change the “rules” so that there is no deadline.  I’d really like to use everyone’s words, so submit them at your leisure if you’d like, and I will eventually get to them all!

I don't want your cock by Gabrielle Hennessey / © All Rights Reserved

I took the above photo as a sort of tongue-in-cheek response to the myriad amateur porno aficionados who quite regularly pepper my Flickr inbox with their contact notifications.

I don’t want their attention.  I will not be fodder for their lotions and boxes of Kleenex.

Men: I don’t want to see your manbits flailing about in the breeze. Women: I don’t want to see the general goings-on of your ovaries and/or mammary glands.

(I’m talking about the insecure I-really-belong-on-Myspace crowd.  Art nudes are a completely different thing, and I admire those with the skill to execute them well.)

This photo has gone higher on Flickr’s Explore than any of my others, even enough to be included on the front page.  I’d like to think it’s because the image itself is interesting, but I can’t help but think most of it is because of the double entendre, and not because of the photo’s actual artistic merit at all.

Somewhat ironically, I’ve already blocked six people (edit: eight) in the past several hours who added this photo as a favourite, either because they were Flickr lurkers with no profile or photos, or because they were Flickr lurkers with no profile or photos and had only tits-and-ass as their other favourites.

Can I really be taken seriously by the general public if I’m a girl and I put on makeup and a skirt?  Or does my so-called “interestingness” really exist insofar as I possess mascara and a uterus?

The Explore feature is nice for ego-stroking but as far as dictating “interestingness” I’m not really quite sure.

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Update:

Someone so tactfully left this comment on my photo:

try not looking like a hooker and then you won’t get random men trying to get you to be a part of their porn site. Also, leave cock out of the title.

Sorry love, but I don’t believe in self-censorship.  I’m very careful to never look like a “hooker” or plaster the internet with meaningless n00ds, because I have self-worth.

Self-worth does not mean covering myself up or never wearing makeup just because I am afraid of my own body and what other people might think.

Self-worth means understanding who I am as a human being and never doing anything to compromise that personal understanding.  It means not being a slave to the expectations thrust upon me by others, because I am the one who has the right to control myself.

Unfortunately there are people who could care less about my feelings, and more about collecting anonymous photos of anonymous girls to fuel their own lewd desires.  But people like that will always exist.  And I will not change who I am or how I express myself, because then that means they were able to harass me into feeling uncomfortable about who I am.  And in that moment I lose what is most important.

As far as the word choice goes: yes, I know it’s controversial.  And yet she still clicked on it to see more.

Perhaps if some people got their heads out of their arses for just a moment they’d maybe, just maybe be able to entertain the possibility of this all being a study on human behaviour.

I Need You So Much Closer by Gabrielle Hennessey / © All Rights Reserved

Unfortunately, most American youth do not.

As I couldn’t work this summer, I had to find all sorts of ways to sate my ever-burgeoning ennui – blogging, Flickr, Papertank (RIP)…  And lately I’ve been perusing a forum and apparently have become unwittingly involved in an asinine little internet battle, of which I want no part.

Forum member X made the statement that asians are hard to draw, to which I replied with a series of curious elipses (so verbose, I know), to which he replied with a private message.  Our further interactions continued as follows:

lol dont be offended
when i said that asians are hard to draw its true.
its a challenge for any artist becuase were so used to draw the basic american
but please dont be offended
asian facial features are so unique so be proud
i didnt mean to seem mean
but they are hard to draw im not gonna lie
that doesnt mean its bad

RE: lol dont be offended
Emm… well I’m not “offended,” and I really could care less what people think of me or my ethnic background.  It’s just that a person’s ethnicity should not serve as an excuse for personal difficulties.
I could say that white people are so hard to draw because I’m not white and they don’t look like me, but I don’t.
What we think we know usually gets in the way of us understanding what’s in front of us.  Not exhibiting objectivity can ruin things.

RE: lol dont be offended (I sent another after rereading the original message, quoting him at specific points.)
I just reread your message because I have bad short-term memory.  I have more to say.
The same exact technical and perceptive and observational skills are needed for drawing asians and italians and monkeys.  Perhaps you should learn to draw a bit differently, by drawing what you see and not just what you know.

wtf give me a break
asians are hard to draw so live with it.
everybody is used to drawing white americans so thats the easiest. but so what if asians are hard to draw. its not only me that think so but many other artists too.
but i think using the word hard is too strong so im gonna use tricky.
the make up of an asian’s face is unique so don’t be offended.
i know you said you weren’t but you still seemed pretty angry cause i sensed a bit of attitude in ur writing.
and if you are an artist you wouldnt find drawing an american tricky cause thats what ur learnt to draw in any art class.
when they give you a sheet of paper on how to draw a face do you see an asian or a caucasian hmm?
ur ethnicity doesnt change how you draw its what you know and you’ve experienced and most people are more experienced in drawing white people.
dont make this a racial matter.

RE: wtf give me a break
Actually, if you read over all my messages objectively, you would see that actually you are the one who is in fact overreacting.
I’ve no more to say, except perhaps to learn some tact.  But that’s something we can all do.

.
you seriously have a problem.
you can just continue to sit there being angry for talking about our ethnicity.
that’s right im part asian so ethnicity is not an excuse.
overeacting huh. well let me say you were the first one to give attitude when i said not to be offended. i mean c’mon are you so sensetive to jab at someone just because they mention something you dealt with.
please i said asians are hard to draw becuase they are it has nothing to do with my outlook,experince or skill so shove it all right.
every artist says hands are most challenging to draw that doesn’t mean they are less experienced but you probably get the idea that someone can be good at something just like that.
please ur lucky i didnt just draw a smily face with slits for eyes making a peace sign with thier hands

Maybe I’m crazy, but really I’m having a lot of trouble trying to understand this person’s thought process.

What Happened To Andrae? by Gabrielle Hennessey / © All Rights Reserved

I’ve moved here from my previous blog; mind the cobwebs and unpainted walls.