09/03/2026
An announcement to my clients and followers:
I have been seeing lots of posts from photographers that are similar to the one I'm making here. I have been wrestling with this all day and I finally made a decision. This is a little different from the things I normally post here, but I feel like I owe my clients an explanation.
Recently, a federal appeals court panel ruled that the private, in-home possession of AI-generated CSAM that does not depict a real person is protected under the First Amendment.
It honestly makes me sick to think about. I am scared by how quickly AI is evolving. We are already seeing real photographs of real people being used to train AI systems. As a photographer and as someone who cares deeply about children I can’t help but wonder where this is going and what these technologies may eventually be capable of. This is not to drag anyone who uses A.I. to edit or produce photography. This is not about that.
I have spent a lot of time thinking about the photographs I put online. For years, I have asked parents for permission before sharing their children's portraits. When they said yes, I felt comfortable sharing them because I knew the parents had made that choice. But what happens to that photograph after it leaves my hands? Even if a parent is comfortable with me posting their child's face, should I be putting it out there at all? I've wrestled with that question for a while.This recent ruling was the thing that finally pushed me to make a change.
I will no longer post recognizable photographs of children under high school age on my public social media pages. If I share a photograph featuring a younger child, their face will be blurred or otherwise obscured. I will also be going through my existing social media and website over the next several days and removing or editing photographs where younger children's faces are clearly visible. Please don't be surprised if you see some of my galleries and posts changing or disappearing.Your private client galleries will remain password protected.
This decision scares me a little. Family and children's portraits make up a big part of my business. Some of my favorite work is photographing children, and families. Those images are also a huge part of how photographers showcase what we do and reach new clients. I know that by doing this, I may make marketing my work harder.
I've always wanted to run this business with integrity.
Protecting children matters more than promoting my business. Even if I have permission, I don't want to contribute unnecessarily to a digital world that is becoming increasingly difficult to control.
I'm not judging any parent who has allowed me to share their child's photograph in the past. None of us could have known five or ten years ago what the internet and AI would look like today. I'm just making the decision that feels right to me now. I would rather sacrifice a marketing opportunity than ever have to wonder if I helped put a child's image somewhere it never should have been.
Thank you to every family who has trusted me to document your most precious people.
Michelle
