Tag: Art

Google Lens: the artist’s friend

The artist David Hockney died last week at the age of 88. People paid tribute by sharing images of his work on social media.

It gave everyone a chance to appreciate Hockney’s art, but there was a problem. Some of the images weren’t by the British artist.

I saw two examples. A Vietnamese artist’s beautiful painting of a bamboo forest appeared in an Instagram carousel of Hockney’s work.

On another platform, a picture by a respected English illustrator was also posted as a Hockney. Some social media users then speculated whether it was an AI-generated piece.

I can imagine how upsetting it must be for artists to see their work discussed in this way.

Use Google Lens to search for the original image

I found the original source for both pictures by searching for them with Google Lens. Here’s how to do it.

  1. Select the camera symbol in the Google search bar
  2. Upload the image
  3. Visit the “Exact matches” and “Visual matches” tabs in the search results
  4. Scroll through the results to find the picture’s earliest appearances on the internet

I found the source of one picture on an art gallery website and the other in an online store for greeting cards.

The earliest places where an artist could have earned an income from the image are the most likely to provide correct information. It’s worth avoiding the online stores that pirate artists’ pictures.

Share art to help artists

Whenever I saw a lovely picture on social media, I’d repost or reblog to show it to other users. I’m going to do things differently from now on.

Instead of trusting that the attributions are correct, I’ll search for the original sources online. Then, if I can help the artist by posting a direct link to their website, I’ll do it.

I hate to think how many misattributed images I’ve shared over the years. It all seems so harmless when it’s just seen as distributing beauty. But in the end, it’s about reputations and livelihoods.

I’m a freelance editor and proofreader from the UK. You can find out more about me at TIDE and CANUTE.

(Featured image source: Miguel González)