Where Credit Is Due: The Importance of Attribution for Architectural Photography
The way our images are produced and distributed has undeniably changed dramatically in a rather short timeframe. In a span of less than 30 years, we have completely transitioned from when you would need an original negative or transparency to make a high-quality copy of a photograph, to where even a screenshot from Instagram will produce a reasonable-quality print at a surprisingly large size.
With social media now the arguably primary conduit by which most of our clients market themselves, our work may be seen by many thousands of people at a time. To achieve that level of viewership only a couple of decades ago would likely have required the purchase of broadcast rights or other large-scale publishing permissions from the photographer, yet organic social media is typically included in the “base” usage license we provide our clients. Not only may our images be posted for all the world to see; they can be re-posted by other users, and provided those users operate within the built-in functions of the platform, they can generally do so without further consent from us.
Particularly in light of these circumstances facing our industry, a recent group discussion with colleagues on the merits of requiring photo credits left me a bit surprised. The situation at hand had to do with a client pushing back on the photographer’s requirement to be credited for use of their work on social media. While the apparent majority of us said we would expect and require photo credit for social media use, there were at least a couple in the group—people I’d consider accomplished in the field—who were completely ambivalent about the idea of being credited for this type of use.
Someone made an observation that resonated with me—perhaps part of the reason some photographers don’t care about a photo credit is because we’ve spent so much energy explaining to clients that “exposure doesn’t pay the bills” and that therefore a photo credit is not an item of value. While I agree that a photo credit is hardly liquid currency, I think the mistake here is in conflating “value” with “compensation.” Just because we can’t pay our rent using a byline attribution for our work, that does not mean we should not be entitled to it all the same, or that it does not have inherent and potentially significant value.
Why Is Photo Credit So Important?
Identifies ownership
Most of us know that copyright ownership is established at the time you capture an image. Further, there is no requirement (at least that I’m aware of in the U.S.) for photo credit to accompany an image when displayed publicly, for the copyright to remain protected. However, the presence of a photo credit or copyright notice could potentially strengthen your case in an infringement claim—depending on where the infringing party acquired your image, if there was a photo credit, it’s much harder for them to argue they couldn’t find you or didn’t know the image wasn’t in the public domain.
Enhances SEO ranking
For those who may not know, SEO stands for “search engine optimization”—the enigmatic and ever-changing pursuit of getting noticed online. I won’t spend a lot of time on my soapbox harping about the rather dystopian nature of the algorithmic frameworks we have found ourselves contorting our content in order to appease, because it won’t change anything—like it or not, much of our marketing today is to garner attention from computers, not people. In the olden days of screeching 56kbps modems and ruined file downloads from someone picking up the home phone, search engines generally worked exclusively with keywords manually placed in the webpages’ metadata. Keyword stuffing, the practice of specifying keywords unrelated to your site’s content in order to obtain more hits, ran rampant. Google changed everything with its search engine, which took into account what pages people actually clicked on and used this information to rank results for future searches of the same topics. Various enhancements in crawling and analysis technologies over the years have led to a highly sophisticated, holistic way in which search results are ranked and displayed today.
What does this mean for us as photographers? It means that photo credits accompanying our photos, particularly with a live link to our own profile or website URL, can make a big difference in establishing our site as trustworthy and otherwise desirable for search engines to display to users. Image metadata helps as well, but some platforms strip this information when uploaded, and there are situations such as if a client uses a screenshot they’ve taken of the image itself (usually when trying to get the image uploaded to Instagram), that information won’t be retained. The photo credit is the best and most organic way for us to demonstrate ourselves to search engines as authoritative voices, particularly since our images themselves are our work product.
Provides secondary licensing opportunities
Tangential to simply identifying image ownership, a photo credit provides an easy pathway for third parties to inquire about licensing our images. Not only is this helpful for thwarting ridiculous hashtag rights-grab attempts; it allows potential licensees to see more of our work and who else we’ve worked with.
It’s just the right thing to do
We put so much of ourselves into the images we create, often sacrificing evenings and weekends to meet editing deadlines, prepare for travel, or wait around for the right lighting conditions. Aside from all the practical reasons why photo credit is both necessary and important, it’s just nice to be publicly acknowledged for a job well done. More to the point, it costs exactly nothing to include a photo credit, nor does it detract from the image or the client’s post. Most of us make it a point to reciprocally tag our clients when posting project images, in part because we would love for them to re-post, but also because we know how great it feels to be called out in a compliment. It goes both ways and when we are notified that a client tags us in their post, we have the opportunity to leave a nice comment or reaction, which only helps both of us.
Value ≠ Compensation
Let’s be particularly clear on this point: while I have specified a few of the reasons why photo credit is important and valuable, it is not a substitute for proper financial compensation, nor is it something we should have to claw back with some meek Oliver Twist-like request or exchange for other concessions. Much like someone offering to credit and tag you in exchange for posting your work with no payment, this is just another permutation of the tired yet undying “for the exposure” grift. Value and compensation are two different concepts. While a photo credit is both important and valuable, much of that value comes via consistency and quantity over time. One random photo credit is not likely enough to yield actual new business that it justifies being exchanged for the very thing you are ultimately paid for as a photographer—the use of your work. On the contrary, it should be the default expectation that you are credited. Advertising use does not typically require a photo credit, but this actually enforces my point. Licensing fees for advertising use are generally much higher in order to take into account the often vast distribution our images will experience in advertising, the proximal effect they will have on the client’s revenue, and the fact that the client is paying more to have an absolute focus on their messaging. In this scenario, we do not charge less in order to receive a credit; the client pays more to remove that requirement.
Terms to Consider
Placement: Social media platforms are continually evolving in their visual layout and the practical implications of their features. For example, Instagram has changed over time how captions and comments display on various devices. Whereas the previously chronological and algorithmically agnostic layout would always show the first comment first, now the algorithm chooses which comments to show and hide based on engagement. This creates a problem if your client relegates your photo credit to the first comment, rather than the caption. Similarly, I believe it’s only the first two lines of an Instagram post caption that are shown without tapping/clicking the “more” button. How reasonable it is to insist on a photo credit in the first or second line of the caption, likely depends on the other details of your relationship to the party posting the image. I would not recommend requiring this from a commissioning client, but I would specify that it must be in the caption, rather than a comment.
Format: Absent guidelines or, more appropriately, contractual requirements, not all clients will be specific in how they apply a photo credit. I’ve had a few occasions where my account is tagged amongst a group of other accounts, but it’s not specified who contributed what to the project or image. My Instagram handle includes “.photo” at the end, which is helpful, but I recommend specifying an exact format the client is to follow, including whether a camera emoji is an acceptable alternative to a “photo by” text designation. I’m not sure whether or not that affects SEO.
Backlink/URL: It should be specified whether a live/clickable account tag or backlink URL is required. If a client adds “Photo by Brandon Vogts” to the end of an Instagram post but doesn’t actually tag my account handle, that is far less effective than the effortless inclusion of a proper tag. For editorial website use, such as a blog or digital publication, it’s advisable to request (or require, depending on circumstances) that either your name itself be a clickable link to your website, or that your URL appear adjacent to your name. I have generally found editorial publications to be fairly accommodating in this regard and, again, it costs them nothing to provide.
Reciprocity: I once had an interior designer point out that it seemed unfair that they would have to credit me in their social media posts but there was no reciprocal requirement for me to do the same when posting photos of their project. Naturally, this is something I would typically do anyway when posting client work, so I was happy to add such a provision to create a win-win solution addressing their concerns. As I mentioned earlier, it costs nothing to add a credit and is generally beneficial for both parties.
Advocating for Yourself
Receiving pushback from a client on the terms of your agreement can be frustrating, particularly when it’s regarding something as benign as a photo credit. While I haven’t had clients take issue with this particular provision, I’d recommend the same sort of response as in addressing any other objection. Respond empathetically, ask questions to determine their real concern, and offer solutions. In many cases, it’s a simple misunderstanding or something easily addressed with a minor wording change.
If the client still refuses to honor this provision without a valid reason, it may be worth considering whether the relationship is a good fit. Only you can decide that, but I have to respectfully disagree with my colleagues who feel this is not an issue worth negotiating with a client. Aside from the myriad reasons I’ve previously mentioned, industry norms are on our side. Both the American Institute of Architects (AIA) and American Society of Media Photographers (ASMP) strongly advocate for the inclusion of a photo credit wherever possible and in accordance with the licensee agreement. I particularly appreciate this passage from their website: “Architecture is a profession in which design capability is prized and intellectual property is the most common proof of worth, in terms of talent and experience. Contemporary practice is by its nature collaborative. . .Members shall recognize and respect the professional contributions of their employees, employers, professional colleagues, and business associates.”
Respect is why this simply shouldn’t be a contentious issue. I’ll close with an observation recently made by our own Mike Kelley: Taylor Swift consistently credits the photographer on her social media posts. If her vast marketing and PR team can be organized enough to ensure this happens, it should be doable for just about anyone else.
