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Message from our founder Ralf Stelander, and from the management
Published the 24th of June 2026 by Head Editor Yvette Depaepe
1X has always celebrated creativity, personal vision, and meaningful artistic exploration.
Our strength lies in our photographers, who push themselves to create unique images through their choice of subject matter, composition, light, storytelling or emotion.
by Laura Mexia
Recently, however, a growing trend has emerged that deserves reflection. More photographers are submitting multiple versions of essentially the same image: a colour version alongside a black-and-white version, or a series of nearly identical photographs where only a very minor detail differs.
Experimentation is a vital part of artistic development. The issue arises when multiple versions of the same creative work are presented as separate submissions within a curated community whose purpose is to showcase distinct artistic achievements.
A color image and its black-and-white conversion may offer different emotional interpretations, but they originate from the same moment, the same composition, and the same creative decision. Likewise, a sequence of images captured seconds apart, differing only by a slight change in expression, posture, or crop, rarely represents a new artistic concept. Instead of expanding the diversity of the collection, such submissions can unintentionally reduce it.
The value of a curated platform lies in encouraging photographers to make creative choices. Selecting the strongest interpretation of an image is itself part of the artistic process. Presenting several variations dilutes the impact of the work.
This principle is reflected in the spirit of the 1x FAQ and submission guidelines, which emphasize originality, uniqueness, and meaningful distinction between published works.
The intention is not to discourage experimentation but to encourage photographers to share their most compelling final vision rather than multiple versions of the same idea.
A strong portfolio is not built on variations; it is built on distinct creative statements. Each image should justify its place through its own visual identity and artistic purpose. When photographers focus on presenting their strongest interpretation rather than every possible interpretation, the entire community benefits.
As photographers, we all face the challenge of deciding which version best represents our vision. That decision can be difficult, but it is also an essential part of the creative journey. By embracing that responsibility, we help preserve the standards, diversity, and artistic integrity that have long defined the spirit of the 1x community.
Read here the entire FAQ
 | Write |
 | Cláudio Vicente PRO But yes, Ralf, I’ve seen a lot of identical images with different edits. But this is just one (minor) issue among many that are really bad on the site—a site that prides itself on the extraordinary quality of its photos.
On the other hand, we see images on Ai—street photos without meaning or relevance to the viewer. Photos with absurd crops, images with horrible edits and no quality whatsoever. For me, this topic/alert about identical images with different edits is one of the less confusing issues for 1X members—and I speak for myself—but these are members who pay an annual fee to have their photos published, yet they spot all these inconsistencies in the photo publications.
Ralf, a word of advice: visit the forum more often and read the complaints from your site’s members. |
| | Cláudio Vicente PRO I was more concerned about award-winning images created by AI—no one really understands yet how those images are selected. |
 | Alberto de la Cruz PRO It makes perfect sense, and I think what is being requested in this article is necessary. |
| | Alberto de la Cruz PRO |
| | Alberto de la Cruz PRO It makes perfect sense, and I think what is being requested in this article is necessary. |
 | Peter Krenek PRO I understand your intention not to have very similar photos on the site, but I do not fully agree about not being able to publish photos taken on distinct occasions. For example, I have a series of mainly sunset photos from the same location, with the same composition, but the light, clouds, wind, waves and other elements showing the location in a different context. Do you discourage us from submitting such work? |
 | Oscar Lopez PRO That’s a very good point Ralf. In that very same spirit you should enable the delete function and let the photographers decide which photographs to remove from the gallery. By doing this you ensure respect for the photographer’s artistic vision and choice. |
 | Petra Dvorak PRO Very good point, dear Ralf and Yvette!
I have unfollowed photographers on other platforms because of this issue. |
 | Cristiano Giani PRO Right. I agree... |
 | Bruce H Wendler PRO I see so many non-inspiring bird shots of taking fish out of the water, nothing original there. And the same bird attack mode so how it that original. So, if no strict rules on originality then the asian women smiling having picture taken will keep on coming. I remember with landscape, taking ice on black sands was a rage for a while, but then they lost their originality after a while and they stopped coming. Rules need to be even across the board. |
 | Rana Jabeen PRO Dear Ralf and Yvette
This is a very important point, thank you for highlighting this.I have been here on 1x for years ever since my 'beginner' days and I have enjoyed being here for the original and quality work ,also most importantly images with individual style. It was always a visual treat to scroll images and learn so much.Recently I have also started noticing 'almost similar' images in the feed and it is a good time to focus on this. Hope we can work hard to experiment more and brush up on our creativity.
Best regards
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 | Yvette Depaepe CREW Dear Rana, I'm so glad that you also noticed this new trend. We want to preserve the creativity on the site and hope that this article will be a wake-up call. |
 | Tore Johansson PRO Dear Yvette, I have noted the managements comments. But I would like to ask, if I come to a special set up with people, taking 50-100 maybe more photos during some time, can I only upload one of them? I normally upload a few from such a session (if I think they are good enough). They shall of course be diffferent from each other, another angle, look etc etc. If only one, I have to consider leaving 1X im afraid. |
| Yvette Depaepe CREW Of course you can, Tore. It's just that we have to avoid 10–15 images from the same shoot that only differ slightly (for instance, a model looking to the right and an identical image of the same model looking to the left, or the same image in black and white and in colour). We know your work, so don't worry. Part of your creativity is choosing the very best, which is what you have always done. |
| Yvette Depaepe CREW I fully agree with Rana's reaction, Tore. That is really the reason of this article. Warm greetings, Yvette |
 | Hemanta Swain PRO Improve the image curation system by making it adaptive and skill-aware. The platform should first assess a user’s skill level, preferred genres, and demonstrated interests based on past interactions and curation history. Using this profile, it should dynamically select and present images that are appropriately matched in difficulty, style, and genre relevance.
Introduce a performance-based feedback loop where the system tracks curation outcomes—such as accuracy, consistency, aesthetic alignment, and genre correctness—and converts them into a “curation proficiency score” per genre. Based on this score, the system should continuously adjust the selection of images shown: guiding beginners with simpler, more structured sets, and progressively challenging advanced users with more nuanced and ambiguous compositions.
Over time, this creates a personalized learning and evaluation path where users are not randomly shown images, but are instead guided through a structured progression of curation tasks tailored to their strengths, weaknesses, and evolving expertise. |
| Yvette Depaepe CREW That is another matter, dear friend. Avoiding that members upload several versions of awarded images is a first and important step, also a strong message to the member curators, the expert curators and the head curators not to accept it. |
| | Hemanta Swain PRO Perfect! Also I have some recommendation.
Improve the curation system by personalizing image selection based on each user’s skill level, genre preference, and past interaction history. Track performance across genres to build a curation proficiency score, and use it to adapt difficulty and style of images shown. Beginners receive guided, simpler sets, while advanced users get more complex and nuanced selections. Over time, the system should continuously refine image delivery to match user growth and strengths. |
 | William Trainor I stopped submitting to 1x several years ago. Part of the reason was that as I examined the selected images every day, I had found a remarkable number of similar photos selected as though "Unique" was not a regular part of selection. That made me wonder how the selection process was done. I suspected that the committee allowed individuals to "Select" based on their image preference. So Bird day, Spiral staircase day, portrait day, Street day, Landscape day etc. Since I found 1x, I have examined most of the "Selected" images daily in order to see what the world of photography was doing, hoping to improve my image selection and projects. I commented a lot of times about that issue and even did some analysis of the image choices with hundreds of the selected images. I am glad that this issue is being raised and hope that the process of selection raises the level of importance to images with unique intent. |
| Yvette Depaepe CREW We hope to see your work here again, William and of course, the selection process will be correct and more efficient. |
 | Vladimir Funtak PRO I agree 100%. |
| Yvette Depaepe CREW Glad with your positive reaction, Vladimir. Cheers, yvette |