The model and actress Emily Ratajkowski published an essay describing, among other injurious experiences, being sexually assaulted by a photographer named Jonathan Leder when she was 20.
For years later, Ms. Ratajkowski wrote on The Cut, nude and seminude Polaroids from that shoot have been shown in galleries and republished without her permission.
In response, Mr. Leder called Ms. Ratajkowski's accusations "false and salacious," and her essay "tawdry and baseless." Years ago, when Ms. Ratajkowski first began publicly denouncing Mr. Leder for publishing books of her nude shots, the photographer provided The New York Times with a copy of her model release — a contract specifying or limiting the use of one's image — signed by Ms. Ratajkowski's agent. The agreement allowed the photos to be used in “a future book of Polaroids.”
But according to Ms. Ratajkowski, her agent denied signing anything; Ms. Ratajkowski also said her lawyer suggested the signature was forged.
At home in Brooklyn, Kathleen Sorbara read the essay with uneasy recognition. Mr. Leder had photographed her twice in 2013; He did not assault her, but he did continue releasing images of her, also against her wishes, she said.
Ms. Sorbara, now 25 and a vintage-clothing dealer, wondered if the seven-year-old images were still circulating.