Organizing committee of China International Press Photo Contest
announced on April 3 the disqualification of the two prize-winning
photos. One is Initial Demolishment of Urbanization of Rural
Areas which won the top prize in the economy and technology
section. The other was Women Worker on Production Line which
took the silver award. The 2nd China International Press Photo
Contest in 2005 was held from March 21-24.
The organizing committee learned recently that the Initial
Demolishment of Urbanization of Rural Areas was suspected of
being a fabricated photo. The photographer had used computer
software to cut and paste images to construct his competition
entry.
According to competition rules, "fabricated photos, photos with
several exposures and those modified or produced with computer
technology are not allowed." The organizing committee believes that
the Initial Demolishment of Urbanization of Rural Areas by
Lin Qin does not meet this requirement. It therefore decided to
disqualify Lin Qin's entry in order to ensure that the competition
was taken seriously and remained fair.
Lin admitted in his letter to the organizing committee on April
3 that his photo in competition belongs to several moments and does
not meet the competition rule. "When the demolition took place on
May 20, 2005 in Yunong village, Futian District of Shenzhen, I took
a panorama, and then a few stitch photos of collapsing buildings
within 12 seconds after the explosion. It was unfair to others with
my stitched photo winning the competition. Thus, I officially asked
the organizing committee to disqualify my photo," Lin wrote in his
letter. He also apologized for misleading the audience and
affecting the reputation of the China International Press Photo
Contest and its sponsors.
The organizing committee also confirmed after investigation that
the silver award winning photo Woman Worker on Production
Line was actually taken before 2005. The photo was submitted to
the committee in the form of a group selection.
As the whole group of photos was completed in 2005, the photos
meet the requirement of the organizing committee for group entries.
According to the rules single images from a group which lose can be
selected to compete in single photo competition. But due to the
carelessness of the committee staff who failed to indicate the
exact date when each photo was taken, the Woman Worker on
Production Line, which was taken before 2005, was picked
out by the competition's jury from the group to be entered in the
competition for single photos.
The organizing committee apologized to its photographer Wang Fan
and the jury too.?
(China.org.cn by Li Xiaohua, April 5, 2006)
