This article is written by and originally appeared on Vulcan Post.
One of the most shared news today would definitely be the badly photoshopped photo which won in a “casual photo competition” held by Nikon, but in case you have not seen it, here’s the original photo:
Zooming into the photo, it is obvious that the photo is editted, and is pointed out by one of the photo commenter:
Recognising the oversight, Nikon had issued an apology:
The photographer, Yu Wei, had also just released his part of the story on instagram:
“Hello everyone,
This goes out to everyone who has seen my Chinatown plane post. I’m sorry! This is going to be quite a read so that’s the first thing I would like you to read if you don’t have time to read below; I would like to apologize for the mistake I have done.
I’ve been quiet so far because I’ve been trying to contact Nikon and have been waiting for them to contact me back to discuss about this. I understand that what I would say might affect Nikon’s brand hence I decided to wait for their advice. However, since more than 24 hours have passed and I have not managed to have discussions with Nikon, I think I shouldn’t wait and it’s important for me to come out to address this issue.
Like one user commented, I was on a photo walk in Chinatown and I chanced upon that set of ladders. I snapped a picture of it, and subsequently felt that a plane at that spot would make for an interesting point of view. Hence, I inserted the plane with PicsArt and uploaded it to Instagram. That’s how I use Instagram, sometime it’s to showcase the work I’m proud of, sometimes just to have fun. This case, that small plane was just for fun and it was not meant to bluff anyone. I would have done it with photoshop if I really meant to lie about it, but no, it was a playful edit using the PicsArt app and uploaded to Instagram. When my friends commented with some questions, I also answered it jokingly, saying it’s the last flight of the day and saying it was my lucky day that I did not wait too long. At that time, of course everyone who read it took it as a joke, before this issue arrived and it is taken seriously.
However, I made a mistake by not keeping it to Instagram as a casual social media platform. I crossed the line by submitting the photo for a competition. I meant it as a joke and I’m really sorry to Nikon for disrespecting the competition. It is a mistake and I shouldn’t have done that. I also shouldn’t have jokingly answered Nikon that I caught the plane in mid-air and should have just clarified that the plane was edited in using PicsArt. This is my fault and I sincerely apologise to Nikon, to all Nikon Photographers, and to the photography community as general.”
For admitting his mistake and apologizing, the post has since garnered much support and encouragement from friends and some netizens:
If the internet can get pass LTA’s recently badly photoshopped photo, I’m pretty sure we will soon get pass this.
Perhaps the bigger question should be to Nikon – how did a badly editted photo end up as the campaign winner?
On that, Nikon has posted an update and said that “We have made an honest mistake and the rousing response from the community today is a reminder to us that the true spirit of photography is very much alive”.
Perhaps that’s the best closure to this saga.