Honor Among Thieves

It's my customary practice to present the subject of a portrait a copy of their photo. This is part of the "contract" we make with one another: I get the rights to publish their image and, in exchange, they get a copy. Most folks simply receive the photo with thanks; a few use the image for their Facebook page or for some other personal use. Occasionally, someone will alter and misuse the image. Here's one example:

We photographed Alee in Istanbul, a fellow photographer who shoots fashion. Here is the portrait:

For some weird reason, Alee decided to crop and heavily Photoshop his portrait, subsequently posting it on his Facebook page. That's how I discovered it. Here's his doctored version:

It's crude, laughably bad. He must have liked his image at some level, but he decided to "make it better." (I love how he altered his eyes and added white highlights to his beard and mustache).

I asked him to take it down and his response was to unfriend me from Facebook. The only thing that rankles was that my name was attached to the image. I guess in altering the portrait Alee never heard about the concept, "honor among thieves." I guess it serves me right for shooting another shooter.