Photography Awards are Not Merit Based

lol

We seem to live in a world that lacks any integrity whatsoever. Which is horrible… but here we are.

Wildlife Photographer of the Year winner disqualified for using stuffed animal

The winner of the Environment category of the prestigious Wildlife Photographer of the Year competition has been disqualified after the competition’s organizers discovered the anteater starring in his dramatic nighttime image is stuffed. According to the competition, photographer Marcio Cabral—who had won £1,250 and a place in the awards exhibition in London’s Natural History Museum with his image ‘Night Raider’—was found to have included a ‘taxidermy specimen’ taken from the entrance to the park in which his picture was created.

Organizers’ suspicions were raised after an anonymous tip off that came supported by a picture of the anteater in question occupying its usual role as a greeter at the Portão do Bandeira gate of the Emas National Park in Brazil.

Continue reading: https://www.dpreview.com/news/9144246481/wildlife-photographer-of-the-year-winner-disqualified-for-using-stuffed-animal

Let’s face the facts.

Awards are either meant to scam entrants to a field out of their money or ultimately be used to scam clients of the award winner out of their money.

There are very few awards in this world that are truly based on the merit of the individual. Even the vaunted Nobel Prize has elements of a popularity contest, with winners specifically chosen to make news and the Nobel Comittee look good, and is not exactly so much about accomplishment.

But if a massive award foundation, with millions, cant even maintain its integrity over time… what award can?

The entire point to an award is to tell the rest of the world about your meritorious activity. The second people begin to realize that awards are not actually representative of merit the entire system falls apart… what need does anyone have for an award that is meaningless?

And that is why people work so hard to cheat. This is why stuffed animals are passed off as real ones. It’s all a big swizzle.