Inspiration or theft?

My wife's aunt was a great cook before she was taken away by Alzheimer's. Even though she was constantly competing with the other society wives, she would always readily give away her recipes. She used to say that the course would taste differently when prepared by someone else - and what she didn't say was that she never served the same dish to the same person twice.

Being a portrait photographer, I am constantly inspired by the masters: Avedon, Penn, Karsh, Lando and all the others, and being an amateur I am not ashamed to steal from them. And I never try to hide it, in fact I try to get as close as possible to the inspiration.

Take a look for instance at this picture of Karoline, inspired by Irving Penn's picture of Marlene Dietrich from 1948:

When I was commisioned to picture Karoline, this picture came to mind immediately because the composition signals stamina and strength while still being dynamic. Karoline has recently gone through a phase of her life where those characteristics were vital, so there was no doubt in my mind we should try this setup. Luckily Karoline was willing to play along.

I am rather fond of this picture, in part because of the similarities to Penn's, but also because of the little extras which made their way into mine: the zipper on the buttock and the little bright triangle between the arm, the body and the the thigh have their own little stories to tell, confirming auntie's saying, that despite the recipe being the same, the dish will taste differently.