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Chase Jarvis Chase Jarvis
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Stealing Photos? Now This is Bulls**t.

Stealing digital photos has long been a pasttime for some web junkies, and we as photographers have always dealt with it. Sign of the times. But this week’s theft of Jason Lee’s Polaroid portrait of actor Dennis Hopper is straight-up bull shittake.

The art collective ThisLosAngeles last week reported that, after a gallery opening called These Friends, they agreed to let a patron use the restroom just before closing. Turns out that this particular patron visited the toilet, but also paid a visit to the incredibly valuable (and beautiful) one-of-a-kind-polaroid-portrait of Dennis Hopper (shot by artist/actor Jason Lee) in the back of the gallery…and he swiped it. Pulled the art off the wall and walked out.

G’head and blame the gallery, blame the collective, blame the attendant who let the guy take a leak, blame whomever. The point is that I’m blaming the perpetrator and you should too. Stealing is bad, stealing one of a kind art is worse, and that the thief is amongst us…

Now–after several days and a $25,000 reward–Lee’s Polaroid is still missing. The gallery is facing the prospect of going out of business, the cops have little resources to sink resources into finding the culprit and recovering the loss. Wouldn’t it be nice if we in the photo, art, design, pop culture community could track this photo (and this criminal) down?

Citizens arrest. Call Jeremy Weiss at 323-747-5301 or this@thislosangeles.com if you have any tips.

(via Fraction Magazine. More details here from ThisLosAngeles.)

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63 replies on:
Stealing Photos? Now This is Bulls**t.

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  1. The Three Js says:
    February 10, 2011 at 11:10 am

    Interesting when people say it’s only a picture…it’s just art. The fact of the matter is that it’s stealing.
    If someone stole $100 from you I doubt you would be saying its just some ink printed on high quality paper.
    Stealing is stealing, whether it be a photo, oil painting, a car, or a cell phone. I had a cell phone stolen once, and I wasn’t upset about the photo itself, but the videos and pictures of my family that were on there…there isn’t any monetary value placed on that, it’s priceless to me. Who cares what it’s a picture of, the fact of the matter is it’s someone else’s property.

  2. jasra says:
    February 10, 2011 at 11:10 am

    dont understand why people do it this way
    really bad

  3. David Bram says:
    February 10, 2011 at 11:10 am

    Thank you so much!

    It’s a real shame.

  4. Marc Plouffe says:
    February 10, 2011 at 11:00 am

    People who steal, don’t care about the harm or grief caused to the victim(s). They have no human characteristics.

  5. Marco Ruschkowski says:
    February 10, 2011 at 10:49 am

    Well what can I say about the theft itself other than it sucks!

    But what about that Jason Lee?! is he the coolest guy ever?
    Pro skater, actor writer, producer, director and now photographer???
    Is there a website tat shows his photographic work. The only Jason Lee
    photography page I found insisted that this is NOT Jason Lee the actor…
    Any hints there?

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