An award winning photo of a wolf has been disqualified from the Wildlife Photographer of the Year competition.
The image, the storybook wolf which was the 2009 overall competition winner was excluded because the judges decided that the wolf in question was a model wolf, hired in for the photoshoot.
José Luis Rodriguez/Veolia Environnement Wildlife Photographer of the Year 2009
Louise Emerson, from the Wildlife Photographer of the Year competition office, said:
“It saddens us to confirm that after a careful and thorough investigation into the image, the storybook wolf, the co-owners of the Wildlife Photographer of the Year competition, the Natural History Museum and BBC Worldwide Magazine have disqualified the winning entry of the photographer José Luis Rodríguez.
The judging panel concluded that it was likely that the wolf featured in the image was an animal model that can be hired for photographic purposes. The competition rules clearly state that photographs of animal models may not be entered into the competition and that images will be disqualified.
Mr Rodriguez strongly denies that the wolf in the image is a model wolf.”
Steve Cook's distinction winning photo of a Vietnamese lady
This whole story reminds me of a national photographic award that I was shortlisted for a number of years ago. My image (above) of a Vietnamese lady, taken in a petrol station somewhere in the middle of Vietnam was one of three images in the running for the Master Photographers Association’s Portrait Photographer of the Year Award.
Of the other two images one was of a handsome, perfectly formed male model shot in a totally controlled photoshoot situation – this is the image that won the award.
I’ve often used the idea that any idiot can take a nice photo of a scantily clad lady on the bonnet of a Ferrari, the trick comes in capturing something beautiful and amazing in a totally natural environment over which you have little control. This is what the point of the Veolia Environnement Wildlife Photographer of the Year competition is, check out the images on their website for some truly amazing images of the natural world.
Official website of the Veolia Environnement Wildlife Photographer of the Year
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