Stripped!

The 2009 wildlife Photographer of the Year recipient, José Luis Rodríguez, has been stripped of his title.  Why?  Evidence has come to light that the wolf pictured jumping over a gate was in fact a ‘model.’  Much has already been written about this, with particularly interesting views on Niall Benvie’s 3-way blog with Andrew Parkinson and Paul Harcourt-Davies.  I won’t go into too much detail other than that the investigation first came to light in the Finnish magazine Suomen Luonto where they show striking similarities of the background between the winning image and that of the Cañada Real Center zoological park near Madrid and a tame wolf named Ossian.  It was in fact other Spanish photographers that brought it to attention as they didn’t want the reputation of others tarnished.

The competition rules clearly state ”Images of captive animals must be declared. The judges will take preference to images taken in free and wild conditions.”  The photographer claimed it was a wild wolf and indeed still does.  Many had suspicions over the authenticity of the image, an overriding factor being that it was jumping over the gate as opposed to creeping through it, which would be much more normal behaviour for this notoriously shy species.

It’s a great shame that this has happened in the most prestigious wildlife photography competition and to be honest I’m surprised this hasn’t happened sooner.   There seems to be an overwhelming desire these days by many wildlife photographers to succeed, whatever the cost.  Whether it be by digital manipulation, using wildlife models (passing them off as wild) or photographing schedule 1 species without a licence, such as a kingfisher at the nest.  Now, I’m not condemning the use of captive wildlife or falconers come to that.  Indeed it is common practise to use them and you could argue that by using a controlled animal such as a jaguar or golden eagle you don’t disturb it in the wild.  But it’s when it is passed off as being wild or when manipulation in the computer is such that it is no longer a true representation of what was seen that I feel the line has most definitely been crossed.  Ultimately we can only look to ourselves and reach deep inside to our own ethics and morals before even thinking about entering a ‘dodgy’ image into a competition in the hope that no-one will ever find out.  It absolutely baffles me.  I’ve been photographing wildlife since I was a boy because I love to be outdoors and experience nature’s wonders first hand.  If I happen to get anywhere in a competition then that is simply a bonus.  When it becomes the sole purpose of your work, then I feel its time you choose something else to photograph.

Tags: behaviour, captive, ethics, Jose Luis Rodríguez, manipulation, morals, nature photography, photographers, spanish, suomen luento, wildlife photographer of the year