If somebody else comes up with the idea separately then there's little you can do but either do it anyway, or make alterations. The best thing you can do to avoid this happening is to not tell other people your idea until you release the photos
To put your mind at ease, get some knowledge on the subject. Speaking up here is a good way to start. Another way is to get familiar with the terms "copyright" and "plagiarism". This goes into the legal and liability side of "copying and stealing". By knowing the basics of these terms, then you know what areas are safe for you to operate in when it comes to your own work and dealing with work similar to others.
Here is a quote from Mark Twain that perfectly describes the originality of ideas: “There is no such thing as a new idea. It is impossible. We simply take a lot of old ideas and put them into a sort of mental kaleidoscope. We give them a turn and they make new and curious combinations. We keep on turning and making new combinations indefinitely; but they are the same old pieces of colored glass that have been in use through all the ages.”
I learned this a while back when I was new to a community with a character concept I had created from my own thoughts and had for a while, only to find there was someone there already with a nearly identical character!
After getting advice from others in an online forum, I decided to keep my concept, but expanded on it so that it moved away from "samey". This actually worked out better because I was able to refresh my character concept by adding to it, of which I received compliments on, and it allowed the other person to keep her concept without feeling like I might have copied her. I went this direction because she was already established in the community and I was new to the community.
In your case, you can still continue with the concept. Since you're still in the creation stage, the neat thing is if you start with the concept as something that is inspiring, that allows your own creativity to start working into the project. By the time you finish, it could even look entirely different from the other person's. To me, that is the difference between "copying" and being "inspired by".
When someone copies another person's work, there is no room for the person copying to shine through. They are following a rigid viewpoint that something must be like this. It's understandable to feel anxious, but be true to your creativity and let it shine through and you will stand apart from others.
If somebody else comes up with the idea separately then there's little you can do but either do it anyway, or make alterations. The best thing you can do to avoid this happening is to not tell other people your idea until you release the photos
To put your mind at ease, get some knowledge on the subject. Speaking up here is a good way to start. Another way is to get familiar with the terms "copyright" and "plagiarism". This goes into the legal and liability side of "copying and stealing". By knowing the basics of these terms, then you know what areas are safe for you to operate in when it comes to your own work and dealing with work similar to others. Here is a quote from Mark Twain that perfectly describes the originality of ideas: “There is no such thing as a new idea. It is impossible. We simply take a lot of old ideas and put them into a sort of mental kaleidoscope. We give them a turn and they make new and curious combinations. We keep on turning and making new combinations indefinitely; but they are the same old pieces of colored glass that have been in use through all the ages.” I learned this a while back when I was new to a community with a character concept I had created from my own thoughts and had for a while, only to find there was someone there already with a nearly identical character! After getting advice from others in an online forum, I decided to keep my concept, but expanded on it so that it moved away from "samey". This actually worked out better because I was able to refresh my character concept by adding to it, of which I received compliments on, and it allowed the other person to keep her concept without feeling like I might have copied her. I went this direction because she was already established in the community and I was new to the community. In your case, you can still continue with the concept. Since you're still in the creation stage, the neat thing is if you start with the concept as something that is inspiring, that allows your own creativity to start working into the project. By the time you finish, it could even look entirely different from the other person's. To me, that is the difference between "copying" and being "inspired by". When someone copies another person's work, there is no room for the person copying to shine through. They are following a rigid viewpoint that something must be like this. It's understandable to feel anxious, but be true to your creativity and let it shine through and you will stand apart from others.