DIY Photography

Your one stop shop for everything photo-video

  • News
  • Inspiration
  • Reviews
  • Tutorials
  • DIY
  • Gear
Search

Submit A Story

Photographer wins his own photo contest, causes outrage within community

Apr 29, 2017 by Dunja Djudjic 42 Comments

  • Share
  • Tweet
  • Flipboard
  • WhatsApp

Photographer Sal Cincotta has recently been selected as the winner of ShutterFest photo contest in several categories. It wouldn’t be strange if Cincotta himself weren’t the owner of ShutterFest. Out of 17 categories, his photos won the first place in 5 of them, in addition to winning the Grand Prize. So basically – he won his own competition.

Each photo submission cost $25 or $35, and there were $2000 in prizes. And other than winning the first place in several categories, Cincotta won the second and third place in six more of them. This caused the outrage in the community, with people claiming it’s against the rules to enter the competition you run yourself. Also, many photographers felt cheated, as they saw Cincotta’s entrance in the contest (and winning it) reducing their chance of winning.

Cincotta defended his win on Facebook, stating that the “judging was conducted blindly and in a public room with dozens upon dozens of attendees watching and listening to the scores and critiques.” He added that “judges and chairs are encouraged to enter the competition:”

https://www.facebook.com/salcincotta/posts/10155117477625928

I’ve never heard of the case where the people who organize the contest can enter it. The rules of all the contests I’ve seen have clearly stated that owners, employees and their family members are not eligible to enter. Whenever a website I worked for organized a competition, none of the employees would be able to apply. And I find it perfectly understandable – it simply wouldn’t be fair, for several reasons.

First, even when the judging is done blindly, you decrease the chance for others to win by allowing the employees/founders/their family members to enter. Then, if they win, you severely damage the company’s credibility. There’s no way you can prove that it wasn’t set up. And after all, if you want to reward yourself, you can do it without running a competition.

It’s not my goal to trash anyone, and Cincotta’s images are undoubtedly beautiful. But I can’t withhold from saying running a contest and winning it yourself just doesn’t make sense for me.

What do you think? Should the owners be able to enter their own competitions or not?

[via Imaging Resource]

FIND THIS INTERESTING? SHARE IT WITH YOUR FRIENDS!

  • Share
  • Tweet
  • Flipboard
  • WhatsApp

Related posts:

School photographer causes outrage after offering retouching services for eight-year-olds This photographer 3D printed his own “photo sniper” grip for his macro photography setup A photo of human-like robot wins third place in portrait photography contest Photo of a kitchen court hearing wins the Our Times – Pandemic Perspectives contest

Filed Under: news Tagged With: photographer, photography contest

Dunja Djudjic: from diyphotography.net

About Dunja Djudjic

Dunja Djudjic is a multi-talented artist based in Novi Sad, Serbia. With 15 years of experience as a photographer, she specializes in capturing the beauty of nature, travel, and fine art. In addition to her photography, Dunja also expresses her creativity through writing, embroidery, and jewelry making.

« Your fear in photography and creativity might be your parents fault
Waving or drowning? What’s the situation with Kickstarter / photo printing service Flag? »

Submit A Story

Get our FREE Lighting Book

DIYP lighting book cover

* download requires newsletter signup
DIYPhotography

Recent Comments

Free Resources

Advanced lighting book

Recent Posts

  • Here’s a bullet time video booth you can build yourself
  • Ricoh has discontinued the HD PENTAX-DA 21mm F3.2AL Limited silver lens
  • This “stellar flower” unravels the twilight’s evolution in 360 degrees
  • Strobes vs Continuous LEDs – Which is right for you?
  • Wave goodbye to Apple’s My Photo Stream next month

Udi Tirosh: from diyphotography.netUdi Tirosh is an entrepreneur, photography inventor, journalist, educator, and writer based in Israel. With over 25 years of experience in the photo-video industry, Udi has built and sold several photography-related brands. Udi has a double degree in mass media communications and computer science.

Alex Baker: from diyphotography.netAlex Baker is a portrait and lifestyle driven photographer based in Valencia, Spain. She works on a range of projects from commercial to fine art and has had work featured in publications such as The Daily Mail, Conde Nast Traveller and El Mundo, and has exhibited work across Europe

David Williams: from diyphotography.netDave Williams is an accomplished travel photographer, writer, and best-selling author from the UK. He is also a photography educator and published Aurora expert. Dave has traveled extensively in recent years, capturing stunning images from around the world in a modified van. His work has been featured in various publications and he has worked with notable brands such as Skoda, EE, Boeing, Huawei, Microsoft, BMW, Conde Nast, Electronic Arts, Discovery, BBC, The Guardian, ESPN, NBC, and many others.

John Aldred: from diyphotography.netJohn Aldred is a photographer with over 20 years of experience in the portrait and commercial worlds. He is based in Scotland and has been an early adopter - and occasional beta tester - of almost every digital imaging technology in that time. As well as his creative visual work, John uses 3D printing, electronics and programming to create his own photography and filmmaking tools and consults for a number of brands across the industry.

Dunja Djudjic: from diyphotography.netDunja Djudjic is a multi-talented artist based in Novi Sad, Serbia. With 15 years of experience as a photographer, she specializes in capturing the beauty of nature, travel, and fine art. In addition to her photography, Dunja also expresses her creativity through writing, embroidery, and jewelry making.

Copyright © DIYPhotography 2006 - 2023 | About | Contact | Advertise | Write for DIYP | Full Disclosure | Privacy Policy