A revelação dos fotógrafos responsáveis pelas imagens foi efectuada pelo também fotógrafo Tom Gralish: "After almost a year now, credit for the photo source of the very first Shepard Fairey Obama poster (above, left) can be given properly to photographer Mannie Garcia. He joins previously credited photographers David C. Turnley (center) and Brooks Kraft (right), who provided the basis for two of Fairey's works later in the election year".Fairey considera a mais conhecida como "my Obama image" mas a campanha de Obama não a adoptou oficialmente "because of legal issues related to the original photograph he used", "snagged by the artist from the Web".
Não é a primeira vez que ele é acusado de práticas menos próprias ou mesmo de uma longa lista de plágios. Em Dezembro de 2007, Mark Vallen descreveu e apresentou comparações embaraçosas em "Obey Plagiarist Shepard Fairey".
Eis o início do texto: "Most well known for his "Obey Giant" street posters, Shepard Fairey has carefully nurtured a reputation as a heroic guerilla street artist waging a one man campaign against the corporate powers-that-be. Infantile posturing aside, Fairey’s art is problematic for another, more troubling reason - that of plagiarism".
Mas há quem defenda o seu método (em resposta ao texto de Vallen): "I say, if the borrower makes new cloth from whole cloth, then the work should be judged on the merits. I feel Fairey has carved a niche. You can like it or not. Be inspired by it or loose interest in it. There will always be those who legitimately try to shoot holes in the accomplishment.
I don't disagree with the author, but I am not as concerned by Fairey's act as I am by others who pilfer because they have NO IDEAS of their own.
I concede this is a situational (and prejudicial) response, but for now that's where I stand. I don't think Fairey is a FRAUD - but I don't think he's Picasso, either".
Fairey assume-se, como sucedeu nesta entrevista na rádio em 2007, "I’m a populist”, [...] “I’m trying to reach as many people as possible.”
“I love the concept in fine art of making a masterpiece, something that will endure,” he said, adding that he understood, too, how unlikely that is for anyone. “But I also understand how short the attention span of most consumers is and that you really need to work with the metabolism of consumer culture a lot of the time to make something relevant within the zeitgeist.”
[act.: Shepard the Giant: He's gone from street artist to creating an iconic image of Barack Obama and having a solo ICA show: "I did the Obama thing on my own, grass-roots style."
Obama’s Obedient Artist: Is Shepard Fairey a Farce?
Copyright Infringement And Obama's Iconic Campaign Poster: Wouldn't this be considered a derivative work?]
