Follow Lisa Saad’s contest cheating scandal, the AIPP has revealed 13 rightful winners with Cairns portrait photographer, Peter Rossi, awarded the 2016 Australian Professional Photographer of the Year.
It was unearthed earlier this year that Melbourne commercial photographer, Lisa Saad, had breached photo contest rules since 2015. Many award-winning photos featured non-photographic elements, such as clip art, which weren’t captured in-camera by Lisa.
Other images plagiarised the work of others, notably one image shot by Dutch photographer, Marcel van Balken, which paved the way for Photo Stealers to find numerous other rule breaching incidents.
All in all, the re-presenting of awards stripped from Lisa Saad has cost the AIPP a minimum of $28,000 in prize money and trophies, according to AIPP treasurer, Sara McKenna, in her latest report. She added that the AIPP was attempting to recover some of these lost funds – presumably from Lisa Saad herself.
Lisa was banned from the AIPP, and also the WPPI, NZIPP, and the UK-based Societies of Photographers. The AIPP now requires all entrants to have a USB containing all image components to prevent and deter future cheats. A ‘scrutineer’ will also be inspecting submissions at both State and National Awards.
Lisa was a cherished and celebrated AIPP member and Australian photographer. The sheer scale of the cheating scandal shocked many in the Australian photo industry.
While the award winners’ cash, gear and vouchers have now been allocated to the rightful winners, they have been denied the marketing benefits that came with winning the various accolades Lisa illegitimately claimed.
The financial and reputational hit to the AIPP, and indeed the other international photographic associations which handed out big cash prizes to Lisa Saad, is probably unmatched in the history of professional photography.
Introducing the genuine AIPP State and National Award winners:
– 2015 Victorian Commercial Photographer of the Year: Mercury Megaloudis
– 2016 Victorian Commercial Photographer of the Year: Brian Randall
– 2016 Victorian Illustrative Photographer of the Year: Rebecca Croft
– 2016 Victorian Professional Photographer of the Year: Andrew Campbell
– 2017 Victorian Illustrative Photographer of the Year: Rebecca Croft
– 2017 Victorian Highest Scoring Print Award: Robyn Campbell
– 2017 Victorian Epson Signature Worthy Award: Kristian Piccoli
– 2017 Victorian Professional Photographer of the Year: James Harvie
– 2018 Victorian Commercial Photographer of the Year: Steve Scalone
– 2015 Australian Commercial Photographer of the Year: Simon Casson
– 2016 Australian Commercial Photographer of the Year: Karen Alsop
– 2016 Australian Professional Photographer of the Year: Peter Rossi
– 2018 Australian Commercial Photographer of the Year: Geoff Comfort
May 15, 2019
Just devastating that the rightful winners have been robbed of the recognition they deserved at the time and the potential benefits to their ongoing careers.
May 28, 2019
I am a very firm believer that Photography only applies to actual images taken with a camera. A minimum amount of corrections done in Photoshop is permissible, such was colour correction, resizing etc. Anything that is compiled together in Photoshop is ART and should be judged as art, not photography. I believe that this is why photography competitions have plummeted to zero appeal with the public.
December 4, 2019
What bullshit photos which they are not it’s art
ridiculous!