UP Student Wins Photography Contest Using Stolen Photo

Written By Funchum on Tuesday, September 24, 2013 | 3:16:00 PM

Mark Joseph Solis, A graduate student from University of the Philippines admitted submitting a photo he did not personally take for the Chilean Embassy in Manila's contest "Smile for the World" that was took place last September 18th.

"Neptune King Of The Sea, by Gregory John Smith"

The photo that won him a $1000 and a round  trip tickets to Chile and Brazil was actually owned by Gregory John Smith and was taken on a beach in Paraty, Rio De Janeiro Brazil in 2006. It featured a boy playing seaweeds with his brother

Contradicts on what Solis said in his speech that the photo "The Mettle of the Filipino Spirit" is about a young boy help his father farming seaweeds in Zamboanga.

Gregory John Smith discovered the stolen photo and showed his outrage in Facebook saying that the first prize was awarded "to an impostor who has abused his copyright image".

Photo from  http://fstoppers.com/

Solis already sent a letter of apology to Smith and confirmed that he received the letter.

Photo from http://fstoppers.com

Rappler.com reports that according to the post on the "Narinig ko sa UP" Facebook page. This is not the first time that Solis did the plagiarizing.

Solis was also won other Photography Contest using a "Stolen Photo" and had done it at least five times.

Ambassador Mayorga of Chile and also host the contest said that they will conduct an investigation into the matter.