I got hit with a flurry of messages about this fauxtographer so I am guessing they got caught somewhere online. The Facebook Page was wiped between me getting the messages and when I could start the post but the website is still predominantly images that were not created by Seraphina Visuals.
There is a TON of stock images used here, often from the same wedding so to save time I’m only going to post the original source for the first of the group on those.
I think *some* (not all) of these images were placeholders with the Pixieset template they are using. It’s often done and it’s gross. There’s so many other photographers that popped up when searching those images that are using the same placeholder images on their live website. Stop that crap right now.
I think this is also one of the first photographers to use AI images in their portfolio pretending they were real photos. Wait, no. I forgot about Meg. Well, anyway, it’s the first one I’ve come across that is just a regular photographer not selling products TO photographers anyway.
Finally, to kind of go for the full BINGO card here they also have plagiarism.
It’s been a while since I’ve had a website full of almost all stolen images. There are a few images that I didn’t find sources for but it’s not many.
Since there is *so* much here I am just sticking to sourcing the photographers stolen from that I can find. I also didn’t bother with the stock photos, of which there are dozens. There is SO much that I had to narrow it down somehow.
Also, he used some of these images in his article with Canvas Rebel. He’s a rebel alright… there’s also at least two stock images credited to him in a Medium article he wrote.
There’s also not an insignificant amount of plagiarism at play on the website as well and at least one source of the photos he also took copy from.
It’s worth a look at AEllis’ website to make sure your own work isn’t there as some are collaged and hard to source.
Update 1/12/24 @ 4PM EST:
If you haven’t been on the Facebook Post about this listing, you may want to pop over there first because… it’s giving Billcie vibes.
Then another person that has a history with Ellis came in and posted a link to his Instagram highlight reel on the deep dive he’s done into Ellis and… holy shit. From the terrible interactions with a model (more than one), to him not returning his daughter to the mother on time, to his ex’s restraining order and his eventual probation for beating her friend up shortly before his ex was murdered in a hit-and-run… just a whole lot of WTF.
Ellis has a lot of aliases: Aellis Obtenebrix is what he’s currently going as but he’s also known as Lahlan Rotscreck, Ellis Templar, Jason Bourne (I’m serious), and what his real name appears to be is Ellis Warner. Larry Ellis Campbell Jr.
I’m hoping to pull some of the past screenshots I was sent from his infractions as Seaside Boudoir and add them to the post soon.
Update 2/25/2024 @ 11AM EST:
Well last night I got “served” via email (which isn’t legal in Ohio without consent) by Larry/Ellis.
Since I’m already in the lawsuit, I’m just going to go all in and post everything I’ve got that he’s stolen.
After 7 hours of working on this I’m calling it quits after sourcing around 100 images/text sources from his product photography pages. Tomorrow I’ll dig into the rest.
Update 2/25/2024 @ 11PM EST:
I finished up the boudoir portfolios and in total added 151 new sources to the post and I’m not close to being done. I’ll add more tomorrow.
Update 2/26/2024
I’m bound and determined to finish sourcing all the photos today. I believe this is the most content I’ve ever sourced??
It’s very interesting that many of these images were flipped so that they weren’t easily found by searching online, I had to flip many back to find the original sources for the images.
It’s almost like he did that intentionally…
Update 11/9/2024
If you haven’t been keeping up with the latest via Substack the summary is that the lawsuit is still ongoing, AEllis is currently in jail and he’s still a shithead.
Since I had some time this weekend I decided to go ahead and update the post with the new website, his new names and aliases and the additional stolen images on his current website.
Just in 2024 I’ve found over 250 items on his website and social media that were stolen from another creator – and that’s a low estimate. That doesn’t include the photos he’s stolen when known as Seaside Boudoir which is another massive chunk.
I never have made a comprehensive list of the various business names he’s used/is using so I wanted to add those here.
Seaside Boudoir
Art by D’Artisan
Art Au Naturale
Enchanted Realm Photography
Enchanted Realm Boudoir
Enchanting Shots
Branding Beauty Boudoir
Dark Realm of the Fae
Fae Portraits
Branded Vivid
Vivid Vixens Photography
Vivid Vixen Photo
It appears that at least one client is currently waiting for delivery, this review was left in September.
So, he continues to do great things! Scroll to the bottom for the latest images added to his website that aren’t his.
This isn’t how I wanted to start off my Monday but here we are. Stolen images, stock images, plagiarism, “inspiration”… where my bingo card??
If you know of the source of any images I couldn’t find the original creator for let me know.
Also, in case you weren’t aware, I’ve started a substack! Each week I have one free post, one paid post talking about various things related to Photo Stealers, photography and beyond. Hit subscribe and share with anyone you’d think enjoy!
However, with going viral comes copyright infringement and since that blog went viral I’ve dealt with photographers over and over that can’t seem to credit me for my blog post. I keep getting told by the photographers I email it’s “not a big deal” but it is to me! There are some photographers who have been kind enough to ask before reposting and I’ve always been pretty generous with allowing photographers to repost the blog with credit.
Today’s photographer plagiarized my viral Unplugged Wedding blog post. She did rework it a but but it’s plain what the original source of her copy is. She even kept the bride and groom’s name the same and wrote the blog as if she was there, which is really unsettling to the bride (AND me). No credit is given to me for the source text.
The icing on the cake is that the images included in the blog post are not hers either, and of course no credit is given. They aren’t mine (guess they were too bad to steal!) so those are also sourced below.
This wall of shame is dedicated to photographers that feel that it's okay to steal others' work and post it as their own. Oh I'm sorry, it's okay to let their "web designer" do it.
