- photo-retouchers all over the world have been allegedly scammed by him. he orders retouched images and never pays for them. then he goes on to use them, even now on his site. he sells them to clients and keeps the money
- he has allegedly booked models on commercial jobs then ignored them without paying or supplying images/prints
- he has allegedly organised photography courses in lighting techniques and when the photographers turn up, there is nobody at the address given, and none of the £120 fees are returned
- he has allegedly organised portfolio days for models, who pay for a professional turnover and end up with a handful of untouched images, no book and no prints. then he ignores their calls/emails - changes his number and blocks emails
- he has allegedly booked makeup artists for shoots, offering cash, then 6 months later, they are still chasing him. he blocks their number and email address - this has happened over and over again
READ ON:
https://www.purestorm.com/forum/readThread.aspx?id=101738
http://www.modelmayhem.com/po.php?thread_id=486349
http://www.modelmayhem.com/po.php?thread_id=486740&page=2
He uses various names - Rory Lewis, RPL, Jessica Lewis, Joanna Lewis, and others. He copies his website off other photographers so that he looks like a professional.
He is banned from networking sites Model Mayhem
and Purestorm for his activities.
His last known site:
www.rorylewis.viewbook.com
and BLOG
http://rorylewisphotography.tumblr.com/
* P L E A S E B E W A R E * of this person and spread the word
RETOUCHERS UNITED
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ReplyDeleteYes, Rory does seem to change his websites faster than most photographers change Compact Flash cards and his latest incarnations
ReplyDelete(confusingly numerous blogs) can be found via his name on his comment above. Should you need to contact him.
I run a model agency and provided models for Rory for a job and never got paid. He never answers his phone and ignores emails, I even made an arrangement for him to pay the bill on monthly basis ie £40 per month ! to help him out with his financial predicament..which of course he kept to for a couple of months and then I never heard from him again depsite me chasing and chasing him. I paid the models myself but would urge anybody reading this not to do business with this idiot.
ReplyDeleteIf I was not in the US I would totally take him to court. Someone there in the UK I beg: follow up on that!
ReplyDeleteI do concider Rory a criminal and too bad that there really isn't a point on taking this issue to court in the US. I did report him to the proper agencies here tho, and I hope they somehow prevent other people from getting burned.
I do feel quite stupid doing jobs for his fake names 3 times. That's why I am not afraid to call him a criminal. I strongly encourage anyone in the UK willing to take him to court to contact me so I can provide them with all the correspondence that can prove all. Also I am willing to donate to that person the money that he is supposed to pay for my work. Any takers?
tzveta@t-retouching.com
He awes me over a $1000.
Christine? This would be great if you are willing to take this on. I mean someone somehow has to take charge and I would love it if it wasn't involving the trip to the UK.
i am so happy someone finally started a website about this con artist who is full of excuses!!!! i must start by saying i have finally been reimbursed for his services but it took over a year of me emailing and calling him numerous times evryday for him to give me my money back!!!
ReplyDeletethe only reason he did was because i found his mothers address and showed up there hounding them for him as well which he would then threaten that i was being unreasonable! Joke!
Mine was not for modelling it was my wedding which he did in sept 2008 and i only received the refund in dec 2009!!! which i had to use to produce an wedding album which he never did!!!
His wood street studio is closed i tried to chase him there last year! he was operating at the malmasion so i contacted them!!!I also contacted numerous agencies that he had posted he worked with in an effort to track him down and they had never heard of him! he has since removed them from his ever changing blogs and websites! I always posted comments to his photos and contacted everyone on his facebook to tell them my story but he would straight away remove them or send everyone a notice stating I was unpleaseable!he seriously has an answer and excuse for everything!It was exceptionally frustrating that he wouldnt respond to me personally but as soon as i would post something he would respond to it!
he will eventually pay though if you are persistant!
however seeing as it took me over a year to get my money back i would in my opinion not recommend to use him he is VERY stressful to deal with!!!
Rory who are you kidding when you are in a service industry reputation is everything! everyone has the right to free speech and tell their stories and experiences! If these where good recommendations you wouldnt complain! You know my story is truthful and if the truth is so bad then you need to stop doing this to people!!!!!!
Also the person in america i am from liverpool but i live in LA so if you want help with how i got stuff back let me know
I'VE BEEN ASKED BY SIAN DAVIES TO COPY,PASTE AND POST THIS BLOG ON HER BEHALF FROM AN EMAIL SHE AS SENT ME, AS SHE IS HAVING TROUBLE WITH THE COMMENT SETTINGS.
ReplyDeleteRegards Steve
"I have had to mail this response over to my collegue as for some reason it won't let me post a comment and I'd really like to set a few things straight.
My name is Sian Davies I am a make up artist who had the mis-fortune of working with Rory on 2 occasions the first occasion he paid me there and then in his Wood Street Studio. The second occasion I worked with another make-up artist and friend for Rory in the Malmaison. The payment was £60 and Rory has stated that I invoiced him for a payment in 90 days time. Anyone who has received one of my invoices will know it says quite clearly at the bottom payment on receipt. The only way I have received payment after 90 days is through an agency and a commercial client and the sum of money is always £300 plus never just £60.
The other make-up artist can fully back me up on this as neither of us were told to invoice Rory it was a cash in hand job and she was paid immediately, I however could not come to the studio to get my payment as I was ill so Rory said pop in next week, then began the ignoring and fobbing off that Rory is so well known for. What Rory failed to mention in his response was that after some many months of him not answering my calls/emails/texts etc I then text him off my partner's mobile phone pretending to be a new model with no clue and loads of cash, 20 seconds later I received a text back (which I still have) saying he'd be in touch and low and behold he phoned me back not long after. When he realised it was me on the end of the phone asking for my payment he then hung up which infuriated me so much that I mailed him straight away telling him exactly what I and so many others thought of him and gave him options of me turning up to his meetings and model castings etc and constantly getting in touch. He then sent me a childish reply saying that I should think how I treat people etc and did his usual trick of slander slander slander. Unfortunately for Rory it's not slander when it's completely factual. I have all of the correspondence saved and am happy to forward to people so they can see what was said both by him and myself. I am not argumentative nor am I aggressive, Rory didn't like being stood up to and he expected me to back down and go away. I was perfectly happy forgetting about this joker until I read my full name and occupation followed by complete lies and defamation of character. Last night I emailed Rory asking him to remove what he had said about me as I have proof it was not true and he replied saying "Go Away". Unfortunately for you Mr.Lewis I will do no such thing and neither will the other people who you have scammed. If anyone would like to discuss what Rory has done to them or read my emails with him then please email me: sian.davies.makeup@hotmail.co.uk I'm also arranging for everyone to meet up soon so we can discuss legal action against him.
lol he is taking appropiate legal recourse.... cute...
ReplyDeleteI wonder wich name he is going to be using...
Jessica Jameson, Samanta Jacobs, inicials?
Anyway... wishing him/her lots of luck getting your reputation straighten up.
x
rory had the audacity to email me after i posted my truthful story about our wedding saying that he was going to take legal action against me for posting my account! The funniest part was that he actually had the nerve to give me a deadline of 24 hours to remove my post when it took him over a year to get back to me!!! i have done nothing wrong, told the truth and am living in america! no one be fooled if your accounts are truthful there is NOTHING he can do i have checked with my friends who are lawyers! rory karma is a bitch!!!!
ReplyDeleteI was the one who started the model mayhem thread about him selling my images without a release form being signed and no payment being received.
ReplyDeleteI was assured that if the company owner liked the images that another shoot would be arranged and i would receive payment. 6 months later i see my images on the companies website.
In response to your flimsy excuse for point 2, all of your models have not been paid for work successfully completed, I was never paid and my permission was never given for my images to be used on the website. Secondly, I have actually contacted the owner of the bag company who confirmed that you received payment for the images. So why was I not paid?
I have found Rory Lewis to be a particularly deceptive individual, on a number of occasions I have been contacted by models who felt he was less than, shall we say ''professional'' towards them, retouchers who were never paid and other photographers whose work had been ripped off by rory.
It seems rather peculiar that you have all aspects of the modelling industry MUA, Models, Agency owners, photographers and retoucher all accusing you of being a scam artist. If you are as innocent as you claim to be.
Your threats of legal action do not scare anyone, and they are exactly that, threats. Your a pathetic excuse for an individual, a photographer and a man.
Payback can be such a bitch!
I have met our friend on several occasions at events i've been to. I have a great a love for photography, but I'm not at all impressed with his work. It has no originality at all. It certainly is not well executed and most certainly not of a professional level. That's just my opinion, my entitled critique if I may. Though i'm sure some people will disagree. I for one, would not pay for that level of photographer.
ReplyDeleteThere are some exceptional photographers in Liverpool and the North West. Mark Mcnulty, whom I have met on many occasion and is a delight, as been around forever. His longevity speaks volumes about him and his credentials. He has produced some marvellous live music imagery over the years he has been around and I'm sure will be working successfully for years to come.
Steve Collinson, who I see has posted an account here. I have not met, but we do have mutual friends. Is without doubt the most talented photographer Liverpool has produced in years. I'm shocked at how anyone could try and disgrace his work.
Bruce Smith is a phenomenal photographer, who I've also had the pleasure of meeting on numerous occasions and found him to be very humble and modest and whom as produced some amazing work, a professionals professional.
All I can say is that there are two sides to every story, but if there is truth in these accounts, as there are so many of them! then I am sorry for the unforgivable experiences, that some of you have endured. I'm certainly not defending him, but Rory is young, so maybe given time, he may see the error of ways and hopefully for him, before the damage is to permanent to recover from.
I too have unfortunately been caught out by this scam artist known as Rory Lewis. I'm a professional photo retoucher and have been working with professional photographers for 15 years. Never before have I encountered someone like this! Rory commissioned me to retouch various shots for magazines but failed to pay for any of them. His usual excuse for non-payment with retouchers is that he was not happy with the work and thus didn't pay - this definitely does not apply in this case as he has proudly published all these images on his blog for the world to see.
ReplyDeleteSomething needs to be done about this crook so that he is prevented from ripping more people off. I'm based in the UK so will use whatever legal means I have at my disposal to track him down.
Rory Lewis is a thief and a liar, it's as simple as that. I urge everyone in the industry to avoid him at all costs!
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ReplyDeleteWell said thefallone, you're absolutely correct. Rory Lewis relies very heavily on photo retouchers such as myself to fix things where he has messed up. Rory is nothing without a pro retoucher. I wonder how he will find any more pro retouchers out there as he has allegedly stolen from everyone he has come into contact with!
ReplyDeleteI work with many pro photographers who's photography is quite simply streets ahead of Rory's - I don't know how he can even attempt to call himself a professional photographer! He's an absolute amateur and will always be one because of his unprofessional attitude and thieving ways.
He actually had the nerve to threaten ME with legal action! He told me that his father is a barrister (wow, what a "scare" tactic) - as if his father would help him out of this mess he's got himself into LOL. His father would be so very embarrassed by the actions of his son... I would love for his father to read the contents and comments of this blog, then he'll get an idea of what his son, Rory has been up to..
All I can say is "what goes around, comes around" and Rory Lewis will crash and burn as a result of his lying and stealing. A serious warning again to everyone in the industry to steer well clear of this conman!
Here's more evidence of other retouchers who got screwed by Rory Lewis. Read what has been posted on the Retouch Pro forum! http://www.retouchpro.com/forums/legal-issues/27069-support.html
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ReplyDeleteI too seem to have fallen victim to Rory Lewis' scam!
ReplyDeleteI'm a freelance designer (Jelli's Design) and was contacted by Rory to design his new logo, I did a few concepts and eventually after numerous changes in direction he decided on one which he went with. The low-res jpeg which I supplied for approval is now being used on his website. This is therefore a Copyright Infringement as I still own the Copyright as it's not being paid for. I also designed a Christmas Voucher which he also used on his website and has not yet paid for.
I have been chasing him for payment for 6 months now and just seem to be getting nowhere. I am about to start court proceedings against him so I would appreciate anyone else who has been scammed by him to let me refer to their experiences.
Sorry to see that he caught you out too jellisdesignuk. I've also been chasing him for money but have got nowhere - he still owes me for two retouching jobs I did for him.
ReplyDeleteThis seems to be the way Rory Lewis conducts business - he steals from whoever he can.
I'm more than happy to supply you all the details of his theft from me if you would like to use it in court proceedings against him, I'll even go to court with you to put my case against him! Just let me know. Rory Lewis has to be stopped!
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ReplyDeleteTHIS IS A REPOST AFTER READING IT AGAIN AND NOTICING MY BAD GRAMMAR LOL
ReplyDeleteIt was about 2007 that I had the displeasure of meeting this person for the first time.
i found him to be extremely deluded about his calibre as a photographer, smug and arrogant and he spoke to me in derogatory manner... He really did/does think a lot of himself
About tweleve months after meeting him, It was I who became target of Lewis's slanderous remarks, when he was telling people, that my work was not that of photography, but contrived on a computer. These remarks infuriated and upset me, as I take great pride in my work as a photographer. I then emailed him and told him, that If he had anything to say, to come meet with me and get it out in the open... He did not reply, but he continued with his slandering of my credibility as a photographer.
I learnt how to take pictures on film loaded cameras. An Olympus OM1 and an OM10, Then later a Canon EOS5 during the late 1980s early 90's whilst living in New York City. Well before the Digital Evolutions in photography.
Therefore, I know how to take pictures without looking at a preview screen on the back of a digital camera. I also use a hand held Light Meter to take precision ambient and flash measurements. Therefore, i can shoot film, as I still do on occasion, just as well as I can shoot digital. I have also talked about photography techniques in respected photography magazines and at numerous seminars.
I see the computer post editing process as tool to improve my work, not as an avenue to salvage incompetent photography.
His attentions, where then channelled
at slating other peoples work not long after and that was the end of it, but it had left me reeling. I'm well aware of his work, which I won't lower myself to comment on...
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ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteThis is how Lewis operates, from what I can gather from people I've met who he's done the dirty on and now from what I've been reading here.
ReplyDeleteHe approaches and offers to work for a would be client for a miniscule fee... miniscule in comparison to what the other 'Genuine professional' photographers would charge. Why? because his work is of an amateur level and he is no position to charge a professionals rate.
He then, via a site like Model Mayhem or Facebook enlists the services of a make up artist and a model for the job with a promise of payment. The job is then done and Lewis sends the work to a re-toucher (some as far flung as America and Sweden). The pictures are edited and emailed back to him, then delivered to the client. Lewis gets paid, then fucks paying everyone else off!
Then there's his "Get out" clause! Models are only paid for "assignments successfully completed" Oh please!
As for re-touchers. He usually just tells them, he's not happy with the results of their work... Oh, but he'll still go and use it though! and plaster it all over the internet for the world to see.
If you're so dis-satisfied with the results the re-touchers have produced to your work, then remove it from the public eye and put up the awful untouched work you produce, or PAY these people what you owe them fool!
I have lost count of the people I have met and the stories I have heard about people being had off by him. But hey children, time is running out of him, because everybody knows about him and his dastardly deeds. He can change his name, but he can't change his work! So it's just a matter of time now and he'll be out of the way working in McDonalds or something Lmao.
Yet another victim of the Rory Lewis scam: http://nataliataffarel.deviantart.com/journal/27892507/
ReplyDeleteYet another victim of the Rory Lewis scam...
ReplyDeleteLink to story
More people on this forum who have been scammed by Rory Lewis:
ReplyDeleteLink to forum
Hi,
ReplyDeleteI have also been scammed by Rory :(
I'm a photo retoucher from Germany but moved to London a few months ago.
I started working for him about 3 months ago on an unpaid job he advertised on model mayhem. He now seems to be using a different name, Charles P., and claims to be Rorys agent.
Well he didn't tell me he was Rorys agent straight away (not that I believe it, I think Charles and Rory are the same person and he just made up a new email account). He pretended to be a photographer and had a photographers account on model mayhem.
I started working for him and he kept on sending me new jobs and photos for about 3 months. Sometimes he said there was no budget and sometimes he asked me to give him my rate for the job or offered me a certain amount of money...
We basically were in contact daily, most of his photos were even ok or good quality so it all seemed professional to me.
One time he signed an email with "Rory" which I found a bit weird, but I thought he might have an assistant or someone to reply to emails for him every now and then.
I was waiting for my money for a long time and started to feel a little nervous because he kept on coming up with apologies why my money hadn't arrived yet. First he said that he was paying me (I had to set up to invoices to his Manchester address, or at least to what i thought was his address), then it was the client who was supposed to pay me (a hair salon)... it was just getting a little messy.
So I looked up his name on google and couldn't find a thing about him (of course). Then I looked up his address and noticed that the Manchester post code he gave me didn't exist. Then I had a look for his account on model mayhem and it had been deleted.
I got really nervous and wrote a post in the model mayhem forum to find out if anyone knew him or if anyone made a similar experience, and a girl sent me a link to this blog here.
I don't know what to say, I'm just so angry and can't believe that a person would be like that and scam so many people who have all been working really hard on his photos.
I sent Charles/Rory an angry message containing a link to this post and asked him what this was all about.
I gave him 3 days to send me 50% of my money and 5 days to send me the other 50%, but of course I haven't got anything except of £50, a token payment he sent me via paypal, maybe to make me shut up and delete the post on model mayhem.
First he sent me loads of emails apologizing and promising that I would definitely get my money, telling me that my work was great and that he wants to keep on working with me as well, blablabla.
But since saturday or sunday he's been ignoring my emails, maybe he just deleted the email account?
I really want my money.
I put so much work and so many hours into the jobs he gave me, and many of the photos I retouched have been published in magazines etc. and half of his website is plastered with the photos I've worked on.
I wonder if the celebs he shoots know what a guy he is.
If there is anyone here who can help me, or if you want to group up and sue him please let me know. If you have any useful information for me, his real contact details etc. please send me an email.
I would be so thankful for some help or to hear your Rory story as well.
Did anyone of you get paid? If yes, how did you do it?
Please get in touch with me, my email address is Nadine1301@googlemail.com
Thanks a lot,
Nadine
Hi Nadine.
ReplyDeleteSorry to see that you've also become a Rory Lewis scam victim.
Your experience reads exactly the same as mine. I was also told how wonderful my retouching was and that I would eventually be paid for all my hard work blah, blah.. Rory (if that's his real name) paid me some token, tiny amount through PayPal which just infuriated me even more! Such an insult!
Rory still owes me a few hundred Pounds for work that was published in magazines and on the internet. I have not been able to recover a penny from him.
This is the way that Rory Lewis does business - stealing from whoever he can.
I've learned my lesson - I don't release ANY final high res images without having received payment in full. All low res samples have huge watermarks pasted over them so they won't be of any use. You should do the same so you don't get caught out again.
Contact me if you wish to discuss combined legal action against Mr. Lewis. My email address is retoucher(at)phototransform.co.uk
Craig
My website
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ReplyDeleteThere's a page on Facebook that allows retouchers and models to share their experiences. Join and be part of a united group. Click below for the link.
ReplyDeleteJoin on Facebook
Hi guys,
ReplyDeleteDoes anyone of you have information about Rory Lewis' real address?
Hey everyone - I just saw that he has started his webpage again with the images he never paid me for (and I am ashamed of working on them but oh well he agreed on the price). So the images are low class but most importantly he posted them on his webpage and I have taken snapshots and of course have them locally. Obviously he has checked how law works since he can be banned from coming into the US but we all have to be there in the UK to actually take action. So I URGE someone who is there to take him to court and hey - you can take my part of what he awes me! If we add it all up it is thousands of dollars. So who ever is willing to go for it in the UK - DO IT you got our backs... hell, I can take a trip to the UK for the court date to be a witness if I have to! Please someone do something in order to protect other fellow retouchers!!!!
ReplyDeleteYEH KNOW WHAT? THERE'S ENOUGH TALKING AND MOANING, BUT NONE OF YOU ARE ACTUALLY DOING ANYTHING!
ReplyDeleteFor Gods sake! Some of you, who this prick as had off, genuinely need to get together and actually do something!!! Why are you not going to the Police? He's profiting from deception. What he's doing can be dealt with as fraud, so why are you people not doing something about that!!!
Hello guys,
ReplyDeleteI am going to sue this guy and I ask all of you who have been scammed by him to join in!!!
We really need to go against this guy, Renivatio is right, we can't just moan about him and not do anything to stop him scamming people.
I have been in contact with people who know him and I have got his real address now.
Please everyone who has been scammed... don't be scared of him or the effort, the more we are the cheaper it will be for each of us and the more successful we will be.
Please get together all the information you've got about him, all emails, the amount of money he owes you etc. and get in touch with me.
My email address is Nadine1301@googlemail.com
Me and Craig are already working together, please guys help us to stop this guy scamming people and send me a message.
Many thanks,
Nadine
Nadine, unfortunately for us who are not located in the UK is practically impossible to do this but you have all my support!
ReplyDeletewell hopefully tomorrow will be the start of Rory's downfall... I'm taking him to the small claims court - I'll keep you all posted as to the outcome. What's the bet's he doesn't even show his face though!! Wish me luck everyone :)
ReplyDeleteas predicted Rory didn't turn up at court today! The district judge ruled that Rory does in fact owe me money and has given him 14 days to pay up. However, I'm not holding my breath that he's going to respond, but if he doesn't then it'll be up to the bailiffs to recover it. Whatever the outcome, I just hope I can cause him as much inconvenience as possible!!
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ReplyDeleteMr Jelly, I want to wish you all the luck in bringing this idiot to justice.
ReplyDeleteRory, you're a joke! Everybody in the business knows about you and your sly arse dirty little tricks.
People as far as London and Scotland know who you are. Whenever your name is mentioned, one common denominator is for sure. Everyone agrees that your work is total shit!and nobody understands how you get work in the first place to rip anybody off!
You're a pathetic, delusional liar and I look forward to hearing about your demise from this industry. You horrible little boy.
Hi guys.
ReplyDeleteI can't believe it, but I almost got scammed by Rory Lewis again.
He managed to sign up on modelmayhem again, this time calling himself "Niko Testing".
I had a few free days and was looking for some editorial work and found his casting call.
He was offering a free editorial job for "Love Magazine". He sent me the photos (on the same email address he had already used last time to scam me) and they were pretty poor quality.
With them he sent me some example pictures of how he would like the retouched images to look like (that's also very Rory).
Luckily enough I got very busy with some paid work and didn't bother to retouch his images anymore. That was in June.
Today I had a look at his website again (to still find it plastered with my work) and saw one of these "Love Magazine images" he had sent me on there. I burst out laughing.
This guy really got some nerves, eh?
So guys, also beware of "Niko", email: nikotesting@yahoo.co.uk
PS: I've contacted the police who will have to read through all the emails now and I will also sue him.
@jellisdesignuk Good luck hun. I really hope that you will get your money back.
Post on Twitter under the hashtag #rorylewis #scam and ask for a RT
ReplyDeleteI've been a loyal make-up artist to rory for 6-7 months and for 2 months i was chasing and chasing wondering where my payment was for doing two photoshoots, he's always been slow for paying after a shoot but he always did. Constantly asking why the money werent in my bank when he said it was already put in, and replies constantly being i thought i sorted it i'll have to go to the bank tomorrow and sort it out he never did and later deleted me of facebook and i havent heard from him he also owe's me for alot of images. I dont know if there is anything i can do but i'm distraught to how many people he's done this too and i hope his career vanishes!
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ReplyDeleteIt's seems quite possible Miss Rose that perhaps you've been living on a desert island, naive or stupid.
ReplyDeleteRory Lewis has been STEALING from unsuspecting people for 3-4 years now and it's COMMON KNOWLEDGE TO EVERYONE it seems but you, that he's a THIEF, LIAR and FAT TALENTLESS TWAT! or maybe you thought by some miracle he wouldn't rob you!
The fact your chasing images from him, you must be very naive to think his work would benefit your career, because its also common knowledge, that despite him still being on the scene that his work is shit anyway. So I think you're very new to the business and got roped in, but if you're not and you was associating with that FAT PRICK knowing what he's done to people, than I think you got what you deserved and now jumping on the band wagon!