Photographer Tim Gamble is a light painting photographer who prides himself on creating most of his [incredible] work in-camera, so you can imagine his surprise when 500px deleted his account with the reasoning that he was posting “non-photographic content.”

Upon attempting to access his profile, he was greeted with a message proclaiming that the page “does not exist.” A further check on the app revealed his account had been removed.

Speaking to DIY Photography, he explained he contacted 500px about the issue. In their initial response, they claimed his account was not only deleted, but could not be re-instated.

Gamble was forced to reply, explaining that his images were in fact photography and not illustration or graphic design. He says up to 99 percent of his work is captured in single long exposures, with the remainder of his images being double exposures, curated in Photoshop.

The headshot I believe was my last upload there, and the hand one might be misconstrued as a graphic illustration to the untrained eye.  Both are single long exposure shots with minimal Lightroom edits and no layering or compositing.

Regardless, Gamble was understandably annoyed that his account was removed with warning and with no chance to clarify. As of Tuesday evening, his account has been reinstated.

Find more of Gamble’s work on Instagram and Facebook.

All images courtesy and used with the permission of Tim Gamble.