When ACM's Daily Liberal first approached professional photographer Clancy Paine to let her know her photo 'Dust Storm Daisy' had been used as a stimulus in the paper 1 English exam, her first thought was "what a compliment."

But the Narromine photographer's mood quickly shifted as her social media accounts were bombarded with "hundreds" of messages. While a lot were supportive, others were less than kind.

"My Instagram post has turned into a HSC support hub with a mix of lovers and haters. Direct messages in the hundreds, flooded with angry teens and teens apologising for the angry teens," she wrote in a post to her Instagram page.

"Ironically an image I shot during drought has gone viral again as flood waters recede. A lesson of emotional resilience for me and a conversation ignited in our home about social media and life in general about projecting kind words only."

In the exam, English Advanced students across the state were shown Ms Paine's photograph - depicting a young girl on a bicycle during the dust storm in Narromine in 2019 - and asked to reflect on what the image suggests about human interaction with nature.

"It was really great to see the Central West region represented strongly in the HSC," Dubbo College English teacher, Rebecca Brown said.

Ms Paine is not the only creative to have faced an inundation of hate messages from frustrated students after their work was used - without warning or permission - as a stimulus in a HSC English exam.

In 2017, the NSW Education Standards Authority had to urge students to apologise for trolling Mununjali Yugambeh writer Ellen van Neerven after her poem 'Mango' was used in the same section of the exam. Frustrated students bombarded Ms Neerven with vulgar messages about her writing and race and even death threats.

"I am appalled by the abuse of the author," NESA CEO David de Carvalho said at the time.

"This is a completely inappropriate response and I hope those involved see fit to apologise to Ms van Neerven."

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Asked why creators are not consulted before their works are included in the exams, a spokesperson for NESA told the Daily Liberal it is "to protect the integrity of HSC exam papers".

Under Section 200B of the Copyright Act of 1968, NESA is allowed to include copyrighted material in the exam papers but permission is sought before the papers are published online. Where copyright is not granted the work is not included in the published paper.

"HSC texts are chosen based on their literary and cultural merit. It is unacceptable for students to post comments in a hateful or a derogatory way on any platform. NESA has contacted this artist to offer support," the spokesperson added.

Responding to the trolls, Ms Paine isn't fighting fire with fire - instead choosing to focus on the positive. In her Instagram post, Ms Paine - a mother of four herself - said she understands the frustration students are feeling at this stressful time of their lives.

"I can't control what others say yet I can control how I react and in what light I receive this," she said.

"I know how stressful this time is for many students and I wish you all well. Please be kind to yourselves and others."

Year 12 students who are struggling in their exam period are encouraged to visit the Department of Education's Stay Healthy Hub, which offers a range of resources for well-being and to help students to manage stress.