I am definitely not the first.

And I am absolutely certain that I will not be the last.

Of course, I could be just imagining it. Flattering myself. But somehow, I don’t think so. The coincidence is too great.

What am I waffling on about? Copying, that’s what.

The pictures in this post are not of my dolls.

I found these photographs on Instagram the other day, whilst checking out the profiles of people who had recently liked my own photos.

I was looking for new and interesting folk to follow, but I got more than I bargained for, interest-wise.

These photos were posted just a few days ago. The dolls in them look, to my eye, interestingly similar to my own recent creations…

But is it also just an interesting coincidence that seven weeks ago this person happened to like one of my photographs of almost-identical dolls? Or that there are no earlier examples of similar ideas or designs amongst their own photographs?

I have a feeling… not.

The maker of these dolls seems to follow an awful lot of doll-makers on Instagram.

And whilst that is no crime, and nothing is truly original, and everyone is influenced by the work of others, there are… limits.

So what can be done about this sort of thing? Well, not a lot. To share your work is to invite imitation, apparently. They do say imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, don’t they?

I didn’t know you could block people on Instagram. But I do now.

And just for the record, I am not remotely flattered. ♥