New York, New York

Joy Garnett is a painter whose work is based variously on news photographs, scientific imagery, and military documents she gathers from the Internet,“examining the apocalyptic-sublime at the intersections of media, politics, and culture.” As such, she has become well-known for her appropriation of journalistic images in her paintings (upper image).

Susan Meiselas is a well-known freelance photographer who joined the standard-setting Magnum Photos co-operative in 1976. She has published several books of her photographs, among them, Nicaragua, which tells the story of the Sandinista revolution by means of extraordinary documentary photography—including what has become the iconic image of “Molotov Man” (lower image).

It seems a confrontation over authorship and rights was inevitable. Read an excellent article here (co-written by Joy and Susan, laying out their opposing viewpoints) that appeared in Harper’s.

“Who owns the rights to this man’s struggle?”

Thanks to Rene Wanner for the source/link.