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Winning photo of $120K HIPA prize was allegedly staged

by 27 Comments

Prestigious competition the Hamdan International Photography Award (HIPA) recently announced its 2019 winners. Among them was Malaysian photographer Edwin Ong Wee Kee, whose photo of a Vietnamese mother carrying two children won the Grand Prize of $120,000. However, a behind-the-scenes shot of this moving image has been going around. And it shows that, apparently, the winning photo of the HIPA contest was staged.

Behind the scene of HIPA grand Prize win photo!!

Posted by Ab Rashid on Sunday, March 17, 2019

The topic of this year’s HIPA contest was Hope. According to the description, the image “documented an intense humanitarian moment.” The subject of the photo is “a Vietnamese mother whose speech disorder did not prevent her from feeling hopeful and evoking a sense of strength for her children.”

However, the behind-the-scenes shot shows a bunch of photographers around the same subject, most likely taking nearly-identical photos. This photo has been spotted on the Facebook page of Ab Rashid, who is a photographer and the founder of Street Photo BD Magazine. Etienne Bossot of Pics of Asia has also shared the photo, along with an article about the case of staging photos like this.

Behind the scene of HIPA grand Prize win photo!!

Posted by Ab Rashid on Sunday, March 17, 2019

Bossot writes that this photo has been going around in Vietnam lately. He believes that the woman is posing for the photographers, adding that she is “probably an organized staged model for the photographers who don’t want to have to work very hard for their pictures.” While the image description states that the mother has a speech disorder, Bossot isn’t convinced that the photographers bothered to ask her about her story.

The claim that the winning photo was staged, along with the BTS shot, have caused a strong reaction in the community. However, Ong Wee Kee claims that the photo was taken spontaneously. He told The Star that he and some other photographers went to the rice field, where the mother passed by carrying her children. “We then asked her whether we could take her photo of which she willingly sat down and allowed us to take her photo,” the photographer claims. He adds that none of the photographers asked her to stand up or sit down, and that she was still there and didn’t move until they left.

As far as I know, it’s not rare anymore that travel photographers stage models like this and market their photos as being spontaneous. And it’s certainly not cool. There have also been even bigger cases of faking, such as that Nikon photo contest from 2016. Or the BBC faking some scenes in its Human Planet documentary.

However, in the photographer’s defense, the topic of the contest isn’t photojournalism. Therefore, there’s no rule that the photo can’t be staged. After all, even the famous Migrant Mother was allegedly staged, so maybe this whole thing has been blown out of proportion.

What do you think? Does a staged photo deserve to win this sort of contest?

[via Light Stalking, Pics of Asia]

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  • Freddy

    So?

  • If I had lost against a staged shot, then I’d be feeling a little put out to be honest…it depends on the rules of the comp…if it want pure documentary then this would be wrong….if nothing was mentioned then so be it….just doesn’t sit right with me

    • There is no such thing as “pure documentary.” Having studied the subject for years, this is one of the main tenants teachers love to beat into your head WRT to the act of documenting something. Nothing exists without an agenda and intention, and those are really gray areas. This photo seems to say something, but it’s within our nature to jump to conclusions and then to promptly attach the full weight of our emotions to them. Perhaps this was a photo tour—hardly uncommon—and this lady shared a story, and maybe afterward they talked, and someone politely asked for a photo— and then the others, moved by her touching words as well, with tears in their eyes, slowly brought out their cameras (after first bowing in respect) and then took one or two photos before packing things back up and proceeding to speak to the rest of her family who’s sitting just out of frame. Nothing is sacred, certainly not in a photo “competition.” I can guarantee that whatever feelings this photo evoked in the judges (or in the minds of any viewer) has, at best, about 0.1% to do with the actual situation, the struggles, hopes and fears that exist in this woman’s mind. No matter that, culturally, most viewers lack even the basic building blocks of what would constitute a personally relevant understanding.

  • It depends on the rules of the contest and the spirit of it. I don’t like it but if the rules don’t say otherwise it should be ok.

  • sigh.

  • As Cory Kerr said, depends on the rules. That should in theory make it pretty simple, if rules say no set up shots and yours is you don’t get the prize , if it says you can set up and you win…well good on you.

  • stewart norton

    As Cory Kerr said, depends on the rules. That should in theory make it pretty simple, if rules say no set up shots and yours is you don’t get the prize or get revoked if found after , if it says you can set up and you win…well good on you.

  • It’s the end result that is important. I see several photographers taking advantage of this “staging” but did they all get a result that was this powerful? There is so much more that goes into a photograph than whether it was “staged” or happenstance.

  • As long as it’s not against the rules of the competition, why not. However, if it were me, I’d be giving a large part of my winnings to the community I took the photo in, if indeed she at least was genuine.
    In the article it says the woman was probably staged for the photographers. Yet, the photograph was called “hope”.

  • Roy Bridgewood

    If its submitted correctly then OK
    The Afghan girl by Steve Mcurry has recently come under fire as its now claimed Sharbat Gula was chosen and forced to pose

    Link available

  • When you think about it, any shot that wins a competition like this has to be staged to some degree. By which I mean the photographer clearly isn’t “spraying and praying”. He’s choosing his subject, spending time with them, hopefully communicating with them.

    I’d have an issue if the subject was a paid model who swanned off in a fancy car once the shoot was done though.

    However I will say this… a group of photographers swarmed around a woman who ISN’T a paid model look nothing better than vultures.

    • Marian Murdoch

      It’s like when I was shooting weddings and I’d pose the couple in an interesting way and suddenly all of the family is there taking photos and immediately posting it online. 😛 C’mon!!

  • Burt Johnson

    I have hundreds of shots like this. We are out (sometimes on a tour with 6 others) and come upon a person who looks interesting. We ask if it is OK to shoot, and when they say ‘yes’ (as they usually do), we photograph the person.

    That is not “staged” any more than using doing any street photography where the subject knows you are there. Personally I usually prefer shots that I get before the subject is aware of me, since they tend to freeze up or act “weird” (two fingers in V mode…) once the see the camera. If I get a good shot after they know I am there though, that does not make it “staged” and would not stop me from submitting to a competition like this one.

    IOW, so what? Sounds like sour grapes from those that did not win…

  • In real life, you will never get the woman to be in that position!
    For me staged photos are OK but it must be revealed that it was stage. Incidentally, photoshop is not OK except for the use of brightness , black/white and contrast control with a note revealing how much said photoshop was used.

  • Not everyone sees the same thing 😉
    The only people who should be upset are all the other photographers who were there at the same time, and given the same opportunity… yet didn’t win a prize.

  • Did the photo move you? Did the photo convey a message? Was it better than the others submitted?
    Who cares? The contest was not the “Best unique, no adjustments” photo.

  • Only if it is not against the rules, why not.

  • Not the first time something like this has happened and won’t be the last, Was the famous flag raising picture a staged one.

  • B Bridget

    Permission was asked from the woman hence she must have had aware of the shooting. Whatever she did then if not being directed by the photographer at any point, imo, it’s not choreographed. I do street photography and ask permission if the subject is aware of me which is what defines “politeness”. However l won’t be caught in the group photo at any point because I travel solo. Lol.

  • No problemo.

  • pincherio

    Check the rules. If it isn’t disallowed, the implication is that it’s allowed. Why should it even be an issue if it wasn’t banned by the rules?

  • Just because there were lots of photographers shooting the same subject does not prove it was staged. It proves she sat there and allowed lots of people to photograph her. Maybe she did take some direction. Who cares. Sounds like someone’s a sore looser 🙄

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