Artistic Integrity, Copyright and Ethical Practice: A Personal Reflection as a Photographer 

As a professional photographer, my journey has allowed me to explore the power of images and the stories they tell. Recently, I encountered a situation that has led me to reflect on important questions of ethics, copyright, and artistic integrity. While photographing Krisu Chhetri, a Nepali diplomat and contemporary poet who represented Nepal in New York City, I created a professional portrait of him during his visit to Boston, MA. It was a proud moment to present him with the image for use in his social media, where I included my watermark and copyright sign. To my delight, he appreciated it greatly.

However, I was recently surprised to discover that the renowned Nepali artist Kiran Manandhar, who once served as Vice Chancellor of the Nepal Art Academy, had taken my photograph and turned it into an oil (or acrylic) painting. I'm not entirely certain, but I’ll leave it to the audience and art critics to decide whether it’s a copy. The painting closely resembles my original photograph, with identical color, lighting, pose, and Nepali clothing. The painter signed his name on the canvas, and when comparing them side by side, it became almost certain to me that that his painting was a direct copy of my work.