A series of personal Instagram images have gone on display as part of the Frieze Art Fair in New York, without any warning or permission being sought from the photograpers themselves. The photographs are being displayed by controversial artist Richard Prince who has a history of submitting art that he describes as ‘re-photographing’ – like re-tweeting only with works of art.

Prince takes existing images from magazines, advertisments or books, alters them slightly and then displays them as his own work. The practice has landed him in legal trouble in the past when French photographer Patrick Cariou pressed charges over the ‘re-photographing’ of images from his Jamaica collection. Cariou won the case but it was later dismissed on appeal.

Instagram user @doedeere was one of the photographers who had her original photo screenshot, blown up onto a 9ft canvas and displayed at Frieze. She responded through the social networking site:

A spokesman from Instagram said: “People in the Instagram community own their photos, period. On the platform, if someone feels that their copyright has been violated, they can report it to us and we will take appropriate action. Off the platform, content owners can enforce their legal rights.” So in other words, users like @doedeere are on their own when someone uses their work outside of Instagram.

Need help assessing your right to privacy on social media? We’re here to help! Feel free to contact us with questions about safety and privacy online.