Australian photographer Lisa Saad stripped of prestigious award in photo plagiarism scandal

A prestigious national award has been removed from a high-profile Australian photographer amid claims she used someone else’s image.

A prominent Australian photographer has been stripped of a prestigious national award amid allegations she used parts of another person’s photograph to create her entry, and could be stripped of past awards depending on the outcome of an ongoing investigation.

Melbourne-based photographer Lisa Saad, who has claimed more than 200 photography gongs during her 30-year career, had her winning entry disqualified from the 2018 Australian Professional Photography Awards today after organisers consulted independent experts and legal counsel over plagiarism claims.

MORE: Wildlife photographer found using a stuffed animal

The AIPP disqualified Melbourne photographer Lisa Saad's entry into the 2018 APPA awards.

The Australian Institute of Professional Photography launched an investigation into the allegations, made on sites including Stop Stealing Photos, on February 4, and today revealed their decision to disqualify Ms Saad’s entry into the 2018 APPA awards, and strip her win in the Commercial category.

Critics alleged Ms Saad’s entry shared elements of a photograph from Dutch architectural photographer Marcel van Balken, who said she used his 2017 photograph “not once but twice … for her own winning awards and commercial purpose”.

AIPP national president John Swainston notified members of the professional body’s decision to disqualify her entry today, stating the organisation had requested RAW source images from Ms Saad, made further inquiries, and consulted independent experts and legal counsel about the rules of the competition.

Dutch architectural photographer Marcel van Balken's photograph, which was allegedly used to create a winning APPA entry.

Mr Swainston said the AIPP would also consider “ramifications for prizes” and other photographers, and would investigate Ms Saad’s past wins, including the 2016 AIPP Australian Professional Photographer of the Year Award.

“As many members will be aware, further allegations have been made in the public arena in relation to earlier state and national entries dating back several years,” he said.

“Those are now undergoing similar detailed study and analysis for compliance with rules of entry. The Awards Committee has further images being reassessed. Time is needed to complete that work.”

The photographic controversy comes just one year after the winner of a prestigious Wildlife Photographer of the Year award was stripped of his title after it emerged he had used a stuffed anteater in his winning photograph.

Brazilian photographer Marcio Cabral denied the allegations for his ‘Animals in their Environment’ entry, but the animal was identified as the same one shown in the visitor’s centre of a national park.