The controversial University of the Philippines photographer, Mark Joseph Solis, admitted that he plagiarized the photo owned by Gregory John Smith and issued a letter of apology to the owner of the winning photo submitted to “Smiles for the World” photo contest.
Photo Credit: PhilStar.com
The graduate school student of UP, Mark Joseph Solis was awarded with US$1,000 dollars and round trips tickets to Brazil and Chile as the top prize of the competition conceptualized by Chilean Amb(–foul word(s) removed–)ador to Manila Roberto Mayorga and his team.
The Chilean amb(–foul word(s) removed–)ador already expressed his disappointment and said that Solis will be “eliminated” as the contest’s winner. Further details revealed also by various news media organizations and blogs that this is not the first time that Solis stolen photos he did not own but won various prizes in different photo contest.
The apology letter of Mark Joseph Solis was first posted by Rappler website, it was posted by Zac Yuson on Scribd. According to Solis he was driven by “youth, lack of experience, and inability to see the repercussions of any actions.”
Here’s the complete apology letter of Mark Joseph Solis:
