For a while I've wanted to pour out everything in my heart, but it's been bottled up. Out of fear, humiliation, and hurt. What I've encountered in the past few days is one of the hardest moments of my professional life, but I need to address this face-forward.
There are truth and lies swarming the internet and I need to take a moment to clear the air. But before I do that, I need to apologize to anyone I've offended. Knowing I've let people down is one of the hardest things to accept. Beyond all else, I've let myself down and the shame I feel is overwhelming.
Firstly, I need to address the most pressing matter at hand. For the past seven years I've blogged 1,500+ posts. I was passionate about creating a blog to share content I learned along the way. I placed an inordinate amount of pressure on myself to write and produce content every day. This {self-imposed} pressure led me to compromise my ethics and publish four blog posts using content I sourced from other blogs. I absolutely should have cited the sources, but didn't. I was wrong. I totally admit this is my fault and I'm humiliated by my actions.
The posts (three posts written in 2012 and one in 2013) were removed, I contacted the publishers of each blog, and I apologized. I offered to make amends any way I could and, thankfully, they responded gracefully.
Since then, a petition has started to remove my name from a list of speakers at WPPI. The petition is unnecessary because I've removed myself from the speaker list. This was a difficult decision to make, but I love this industry too much to see a group of people use my flaws to polarize photographers.
Secondly, those accusing me of stealing a photo to promote a workshop are wrong. I've never used someone else's photo as my own. In 2010, I was invited to speak at a workshop (hosted by a magazine and I was an invited guest) and they created marketing material on their own. The magazine used an image to promote the event. I spoke for free, gave of my time, and didn't have a say as to how the event would be promoted.
Thirdly, on August 16, 2013, I addressed and apologized for misleading my Twitter followers. You can read the entirety here:
Lastly, for anyone who has accused me of using a fake name is wrong. I was born Jasmine Star Juarez, and later changed it to Jasmine Star DeLaTorre (my married name). I've never hidden this fact, and have chosen to use my first and middle name for business purposes.
I appreciate those who've stood by my side during this time. It's been a humiliating lesson, but those who have encouraged me to move forward are priceless and I appreciate it more than I can express. My actions are entirely my own and I accept full culpability. These explanations aren't suppose to justify my actions, but merely commit to making better decisions and bring full disclosure to the situation. Again, my sincerest apologies.
Yet again you assume that someone in my life has influenced me to think one way or another. You assume that someone very young on molded me beliefs. There inlays the inherent flaw it not only your argument but your thinking in this matter.
You didn't grow up in a vacuum. You're getting ridiculous now. If you didn't know anyone religious and grew up with science and truth, taking on fictional beliefs when you're an adult means you really need medical help. Something happened to your brain. Whether your parents told you, you grew up in a convent, or you were unfortunate enough to fall into the mainstream cult through other contact you had, tv, radio, or books, you were told something by someone. You didn't spontaneously come up with the same fiction that others have. You didn't wake up one day and realize something, then discover there were others suffering from the same delusion. Or, maybe you did. Whatever the case, knock it off. Learn things. Be human.
the?pro=amateur if you are unable to have a civil conversation with out making it personal. Then perhaps you are the one with the limited mental capacity. In closing, if you and your behavior are indicative of being human or a grown up. I believe I am better off being myself. I hope you find what you are looking for.
And if you're unable be on the internet without having to use it as a platform to spread your cult ramblings, then you're better off unplugging the computer. Mmkay thanks.
dope aka the_pro_amateur who can't use his real name. You assume way to much and things you don't know. This is maybe the 4th time ever that I have posted to a forum. You know nothing about me or my beliefs so, calm down and stop assuming.
Tessa oh the irony.
Your comment is probably the most naive on this entire page!
I don't judge god, not your god, not any god. But I will most assuredly judge someone who markets themselves and promotes themselves via social media and uses other people's words...without attribution...to do it.
For me this is in no way different than someone stealing your images and using them commercially.
Harrison, I do not disagree with you.
Tessa, please ffs leave your religious beliefs out of this. It has absolutely nothing to do with any of this. I'm sick of people bringing religion into their posts and comments. Do you not understand that the majority of us don't believe in the fairytales and nonsense that you do.
Sharpie, i gave an example not a religious belief. No where in any of my responses did I beat the bible. Simply an example. Others have taken it into a religious debate not me.
When you sell yourself from, and profit by, the words you speak they should damned well be your words. I can't put it any simpler than that.
Harrison, once again I do not disagree with you.
Why do people crave being noticed, they will just be hurt in the end, by people that do not matter.
Jasmine the people who really know you know the person you are.
Now I am waiting for Doug Gordon's forced apology.
Thank you for the apology, we still love you!
But what I want to know is why on earth would anyone want to give you a hard time over the name you choose to publish your work under?? I use a nom de plume for my photography and my writing. Its an artists prerogative to use a pseudonym. You shouldnt have to apologise or explain your name to anyone, particularly internet trolls.
"Anger is an acid that can do more harm to the vessel in which it is stored than to anything on which it is poured." - Mark Twain -
For those of us that choose to forgive Jasmine, don't allow yourselves to be angry over the words of others, let's also forgive them if we believe they are wrong.
(from webster) Forgive: to stop feeling angry or resentful toward (someone) for an offense, flaw, or mistake.
ALL I'm saying is that if letting go of anger brings you one step closer to joy, then why not choose forgiveness.
Just accept the fact that not every photographer can write as well as they can shoot. Why put undue pressure upon yourself to the extent of copying thoughts of others, claim them as your own, get caught out and in the end forced to apologise? Plain stupidity on your part for someone of your stature in the industry.
you know, everyone makes mistakes in their lives. Ive made plenty. Im sure the same people making this whole thing a witch hunt has made plenty of errors in their lives as well. If they cant get past it, then its their own problem not yours. You are a gifted artist and i love your work. You seem like a very nice person with a big heart. Im sorry this whole thing was so hurtful to you. Keep up the awesome work you do girl!
Ethics really are in a sad state when so many people are "morally outraged" by someone copying some lines of text that are free for anyone to see, and placing them on their site, also free for anyone to see. There was nothing stolen. No property taken. She made no direct monetary gains from these actions. Now all of that said, her actions were not honest, true. And she really should be looking inward to find out why she was dishonest in this way. But how can anyone that upholds the notion of government enforced copyrights cast a single stone? Somehow this incident is far more egregious than pointing guns at someone you feel has wronged you?
What is all of the content available over the many mediums that exist anyway? It's just the combined knowledge of our species throughout history. Even if she had written the blog posts herself they would have been basically the same thing as hundreds, if not thousands of other posts and articles that have already been written free for everyone to read. But this is what photographers want to continually rail against? This is what photographers want to stand united for? To banish the evil that is not giving a name credit? F**k off! How petty, how disconnected from reality are you? Those guns of government that you proudly point at anyone who crosses your precious copyright are responsible for killing anywhere from 100 million to a quarter billion people in the 20th century outside of wars, outside of wars! And so far the 21st century isn't looking so sunny. But the real threat here is that this person who has busted her ass to get to where she is has crossed the imaginary line of intellectual property. So now she must burn at the stake.
Creatives disappoint me more and more. So many of you seem so eager to reach for the guns of government to solve your problems. Hasn't there been enough history to teach the lesson that violence doesn't solve anything?
I am not sure you understand what "ethics" actually are. Or rhetorical fallacies.
Perhaps this is true. Please enlighten me.
James, I suppose you think that someone's photographs are free for you to use commercially just because put them on their own blog too, right?
I'm not sure why you suppose this as I never said anything of the sort. What I did try to convey, but did not directly say is that pointing guns at people to get what you want (via government) is something that is far more immoral than copying someone's free content, and trying to pass it off as your own free content.
This is the sort of thing that is really irritating about this community of people. I reference mass murder at the hands of people that lie, cheat, steal, and break the moral codes that the majority of people would profess to hold, but they get a pass. A pass without so much as a reference. The first commenter accuses me of ignorance, which he doesn't see fit to correct me with his knowledge as of yet. And you sir Lansing, breeze right past the fact that the so called "leaders of the free world" destroy human life on a daily basis, and to top it off get people to approve of their actions. But damn the person who dares takes a photo and uses it to gain monetarily without proper permission (which has nothing to do with the Jasmin Star situation anyway because she didn't take anyone's photos and use them commercially). Can't you see how ridiculous that sounds? Did I not say that her actions were not honest? I'm not holding her up as a pillar of virtue, but for fucks sake let's please not pretend that this is the most important issue in the world. How about we stop attacking each other and focus on knowing ourselves first, then building real relationships with those around us. Then we will be able to shrug off the sociopathic parasites we call leaders.
I don't need anything beyond this to make the statement I made, James:
"Ethics really are in a sad state when so many people are "morally outraged" by someone copying some lines of text that are free for anyone to see, and placing them on their site, also free for anyone to see. There was nothing stolen."
You just said that nothing was stolen. Yes there was. The people she plagiarized had their work stolen. Unattributed re-use of someone's work, passing it off as your own, is theft.
This forum is not about your musings regarding the leaders of the free world, murder, or governments overstepping their bounds. It's about photography, and this specific post and thread in the forum is about someone who stole the work of others and used it to market herself.
Big mistake. Great apology. Forgiveness is easy for me. I still think you are fabulous Jasmine. There are far worse things and the fact is you also had a lot to add in these posts which was your own and you are a very sweet talented person. I think you need to slow down and not pressure yourself to work so hard and post so much. We will still love you if you post half as much. Your life is too precious to waste stressing about posting and ending up taking research too far where it becomes copying. Please Jasmine take a positive out of this and slow down.
Am I the only person who doesn't think J* is attractive?
Probably about 1 in 10 males and 9 in 10 females.
How I wish, a nobody like me can make the same mistakes, apologise, then forgiven by thousands and can still continue to make millions like nothing has happened. What a wonderful world it will be!
Now, I don't claim to be an A student.....
I mistakenly got drunk, drove my car, and killed an innocent family of 4.
I mistakenly got angry, grabbed a gun, and shot a man dead.
I mistakenly forgot my wallet, stole some money and liquor from the corner store.
I mistakenly forgot to file my taxes for the last 8 years.
I mistakenly stole someone's work and pawned it off as mine.
All mistakes, are all of you going to forgive this easy when one of them happens to you? Jasmine built her entire persona on lies, but the majority of us are ready to roll over and accept this, I don't get it. Nothing personal, but she shouldn't be teaching or talking about photography, she should be teaching about marketing. I find it a sad state right now in the world of photography. It is no longer bout the work you produce, but rather the amount of followers you have and how popular you are. This industry is like high school. The smart ones succeed, but only with hard work and perseverance; the popular ones go right to the top because of their looks and people they know; and everyone else just swims around getting picked on and trying to fight back.
I won't lie, my work is nothing special, but the one thing I can say is that it is "my work". I don't pawn stuff off, follow the heard, or anything else like that. I have photographers I admire, who's work inspires me, but only to do better.....not to plagiarize. The onslaught of the DSLR, it's ease of availability to purchase, and people's desire to make a quick buck are what's ruining this industry. It's people like Jasmine who do nothing but exploit the lemmings and charge astronomical prices to listen to them talk about how great they are. To be honest people, save your money and spend it the local college. Learn how to market and run a business before trying to start one. It may take longer to get off the ground then instant stardom, but hey I thought that's what we built this country on, hard work.
Jasmine, I wish you all the best in life, really I do. I don't want to see anyone fail ever. However I wish you would leave the industry, and leave it by not apologizing for what you did but rather for the fact you were a part in making it become what it is. You took an amazing industry, and turned it upside down by showing us how easy it is to fake your way to top. I've always stood my ground in assuming one day the industry will right itself. The commercial clients will see through the fads like yourself and other people and the brides & grooms will begin to understand that hiring family or paying $500 is not worth it in the end. I'm hoping that in the end you become the poster child for how the industry corrected itself, and not one for the industry itself.
Wow, you're really putting what she did on the same level as killing a family of four? Not filing your tax returns on time I might buy, but killing someone? Really?
Yes Brian I am, want to know why? Because they are all against the law!
All different aspects, but all against the law as set out my the judicial system. So what, because Jasmine is/was a celebrity she gets to be forgiven. If someone stole your work and made a career out of it, would you be so forgiving.
And to the photographers and author's who's work she stole, shame on you for letting her off. You are just as responsible by enabling her to get off with an "I'm sorry". That shows a total lack of respect for yourselves, and for the industry. I would love one of you to chime in and tell us why an apology is OK in this situation.
This is nothing personal against Jasmine, it's more of an attack on the situation and how we pick and chose when and who to let off. The majority of photographers out can't see anything but rainbows unicorns and sprinkles, WAKE UP!
You are in need of some serious counseling my friend.
You have apparently lost the lines between a woman who takes photos and makes a living.. And criminal behavior. And what the hell do YOU know about 'this industry'? If you did.. and been doing this a little longer than when Mom & Dad bought you your first Canon Rebel.... Oh for the love of God man, just grow up and shuffle off to Buffalo.
OK how so John? There's no lines lost, what she did was illegal and immoral, yet people just want to flock to her and forgive her for what she did. How is stealing someone's work not criminal behavior? If that's cool with you then maybe I will just copy your Bio, and use some of your images on my website.
As for knowing anything about the industry, I don't pretend to. How ever I do know morals and ethics, along with the law. As for mom and dad buying me my first camera, well my first camera was actually a used AE1 that my grandparents bought me 28 years ago to take my mind off of an extremely traumatic time in my life. Unfortunately I had to put photography on hold to follow my dreams of playing hockey, but picked it up again about 10 years ago. Since then I've shot over 200+ weddings, and started amazing ongoing relationships with the HHOF, NHLPA, and Getty Images. I like to think my ethics and morals are a major reason why these people enjoy working with me and keep coming back.
So John, if you don't mind, I will shuffle off to Buffalo as I was planning on taking my boys over today as there is an amazing hobby shop there, spend a little quality time with the two most important things in my life.
Jasmine....there are so many people in this industry that love to criticize, jealous and turn their backs to anyone that need help building their photography skills. You have apologize, apology accepted and move on my sister. You are an awesome photographer, but more importantly you are an awesome person. God knows you better than anyone else and that's all that matters. I know He has your back and He will continue to bless you even more than you are right now. I have personally never met you, but when I see you tutorials and on Creative Live, I feel like I know you. Don't know if it's the Puerto Rican half of you...LOL! Anyway, stand strong and leave the naysayers to God. God bless sistah!
Just to point out.. She endorses the "be yourself" angle in her marketing, teaching, etc. But copied tweets to appear funnier than she is, She plagiarized content to appear more knowledgable than she is. She interpreted/translated her middle name from its original form/origin, "Estrella", to appeal to wider audience and to push her "I'm so authentic" brand. To me, that is not "keeping it real" or being truthful or honest. Remember it's a numbers game & all about followers.. Quantity...NOT QUALITY.
She made excuses for the blog poss with photo tips that she stole ("wwwhhhaaaa... I bought a new house.... poor wittle me! We all know I'm better at cute&funny than photography anyway, right guyz??"). No mention of the twitter posts she stole from Men's Health & other funny tweeters. Those tweets were hilarious, and she took them as her own witty humor to make herself look funnier to her groupies. Interesting that she chose to focus on apologizing for the photo blog plagiarism but not the humor/twitter copying. I'm not convinced. Just shows even more that in this industry & many many others, it's the cute/funny/popular folks that end up "famous" more often than the truly talented artists.
its funny that when this happens to a photographer, we forgive them. Not that we shouldn't... we definitely should. But remember how harsh everyone was to that newspaper company that stole the article. Or new photographers that steal other people work. She broke someones copy right, same way people who steal photos do.
She didn't need to simply cite the source... she also needed quotes around the blue sentences. They were copied exactly.
She's a thief, and I hope she got in a little trouble for it.
But yes, I do forgive you. I just hope the photography community can keep high standards for themselves.
Listen she is just sorry now because she was caught. If she really cared or felt bad, then she would of not done it from the beginning. A fraud is a fraud! Who know what else she has done but hasn't been found out yet.
Fstoppers, I love your site but you can't standby her actions after you have posted multiple articles on folks stealing others material. Don't be a hypocrite!
She should be go about her business but stop trying to make it like she is coming clean now after she was busted. Just my opinion.
Love your site Fstoppers but grow some cojones!
I believe we all make mistakes. One bigger than the other. Let's face it, almost none of us has to face thousands of followers of their mistakes. I she might be a bit late with her apologies, but that doesn't mean they aren't sincere. For the people who think they should judge her for this: did you apologize for every mistake you ever made? I hope Jasmine will find the strength to get through this difficult period, because after all, we are also to blame that we asked so much of her. Sorry Jasmine! I wish I was just as productive as you, but unfortunately I don't even get close.
Meaningless drivel.
You have been caught after plagiarizing over a period of years.
You didn't come "clean" on your own.
You were found out.
You stole with the clear intent to fool your "followers".
An "apology" like this means nothing. Days after you were caught you "apologize", after you had time to come up with your "excuses", and write a "i'm soo sorry, my bad, we're all good now okay..."
Meaningless drivel.
Are you going to refund fees you collected from people who paid money for your workshops that were in fact containing information and techniques stolen from other (unknowing) photographers?
I doubt it, that would need personal integrity, which, as we all now know, you lack.
I'm sure the sheep who believe you can do no wrong will wipe away your "tears", and you will quietly snicker away to yourself in exactly the same way you did when you stole others words having people believe you were so clever a photographer and writer.
Hopefully those who organize and control the various workshops you (have) attended will do the right thing and ban you from ever attending their functions.
You are no better than all those who steal others photographs work and pretend they are theirs.
You owe many photographers payment for theft of their words, just as you would be expected to pay for stolen images.
Whilst I think that it's good to be honest and admit your mistakes publically, an apology doesn't just wipe this stuff away. This is a harsh reality, but also very true.
I'm not saying that I agree with this as a status quo, but I think it's important to call it as it is.
The difficulty with the theft of others creative work is that it tends to tarnish you in the same way that athletes are tarnished by the use of performance improving drugs. Once you've done it once, it tends to stick. Everything you've done in the past, and, to a degree, the stuff that you do from that point onwards, is then tarnished by this.
It doesn't matter in this respect whether you did it once or four times.
Whilst you have my sympathy (because you do sound like you are repentant) the best that can come from this sad situation is that other's might learn from your experience.
Theft never pays.
It matters not a jot whether she apologises for her misdeed or not... She did it, we all know that she did it, and we all move on. Personally, I'm not all that enamoured with her work or her blog, it's good enough, but that's just my opinion... Others have their own opinions of her.
"Apologize to anyone I have offended?" WTF does that mean? -- So, in other words I am not apologizing to everyone for my indiscretions, Im only apologizing to the offended? These sorts of apologies are half-hearted at best and tell me deep down inside this is not a sincere apology. This language is that of self-preservation not of sincerity. I'm sorry if I hurt you, Im sorry if I offended you, Im sorry if you feel like you've been hurt - I have never understood the half-hearted statements, by anyone not just you Jasmine Star-it's used all the time so you are in good company of bad apologies...
You are either sorry for what you did or you are not? You apologize to everyone FOR YOUR BEHAVIOR not the RESULT OF THE BEHAVIOR - you may as well not apologize at all. Just because I wasn't "offended" doesn't mean I am not appalled at your behavior and due an apology, come on - OWN THIS and OWN YOUR APOLOGY stop giving yourself an out. You can not represent the pinnacle of your craft if this is what we can expect of you. This is the photographic version of Lance Armstrong and you are failing. Removing yourself from WPPI is about preservation and saving face - frankly I'd like to see you there and face your audience head on - if you really are sorry - not tucking tail and running until the dust settles.
This takes you down quite a few pegs - You will be forgiven of course this was not life altering. And as you state those that stand by your side are priceless - but Jasmine please change that banner if you want to make a REAL apology.
The banner was created by Fstoppers to fit the post she made. It was not created by her.
Jasmine Star, the Paula Dean of the photography world?
That's a dangerous myth to perpetuate.
Reading through many of the comments and its saddens me that so few people understand the importance of this event and some other recent events with other high profile photographers being outed. You must understand the things she did even if ONLY FOUR TIMES... (as if that makes it better) are so contrary to the fundamentals and KEY concerns of a photographer's business and the business model this industry is built upon are inexcusable.
As a photographer you have very little to hang your hat on to make a buck - Your Talent, Your Marketing, and preserving the value of your intellectual property. Thats all we have... if you suck at marketing you scrap by on what business you can get, if you have little talent you better be good at marketing...but either way all you produce as a photographer is EXACTLY what she stole - content. IT IS THE PRODUCT we peddle, it is the VALUE of our businesses. SHE KNOWS THIS AS WELL AS ANYONE. Good or bad that content was NOT hers to take and is so fundamental to core nature of this business, that her dismissal of it's value with a ridiculously insincere apology, frankly, is not enough.
I've got no personal beef with JS or Gordon or other "outed" IP thieves, It just really bugs me that these people represent the industry and they don't even respect the most basic fundamental premises to which it is built upon. (Im sure If I stole her website template or started stealing her posts Id get a call from her lawyer within hours.) Frankly she should get sued by the authors of the four posts to show her the real value of the IP she stole. She makes a METRIC TON of money from her posts and associated marketing I'd say pretty near a open and shut case especially in light of her admission. Copyright infringement is an expensive mistake especially in light of the commercial benefit gained.
Jasmine - it's a shame - you do have talent, you do have great marketing know how, and you produce great content - you have diluted all of that with really bad apology and really bad personal decisions. But you need to make amends above and beyond a bad apology - show your content holders how valuable that content is and afford them the respect they deserve - financially and professionally. THEN apologize SINCERELY and you may just may survive this.
Stealing others work to add it on your own blog or website is the same comparison for an athlete who used anabolic steroids on the sports grounds and get a life ban...that life ban will be the respect from me for life. That also remove the trust in that person for me and will also raise question about the photographer's work presented on his / her's website or blog....
Someone stole an image once from me and still regrets it till today, it lead that the her printing business went bankrupt... I was just attending the exhibit where many images were displayed and mine was the one without my knowledge....
The one that was on display was printed before on canvas and suddenly " disappear" from her front window and attracted many customers for her business ...
I didn't say anything to her about the large canvas print, because she avoid any contact with me....I just stood there and hand out a few business cards and said I'm the photographer of the canvas print...she could not say anything to remove myself as the guilt step in....
Never saw the lady and her printing business in my town again....
So I called it blind justice.....
Everyone makes mistakes I think its great that you corrected yours. No worries, this will pass and everyone will move on. Cheers! Keep doing what you love.