Japan in Uproar After Top Photography Prize Winner Admits, "It's Not My Photo"

Award-Winning Photo Contest Entry Faces Growing AI Image Suspicion
Winner Admits "The Work Was Not Created by Me"... Prize Revoked

The top prize awarded to a work at one of Japan's leading photography contests has been revoked. The winner admitted that the work was not created personally. There have also been suspicions that the work may have been generated using artificial intelligence (AI).

Work exhibited at a photo salon in Saitama Prefecture. X

According to the Asahi Shimbun on November 11, both the Saitama Prefecture branch of the All-Japan Association of Photographic Societies and the Asahi Shimbun, which jointly hosted the "42nd Saitama Prefecture Photo Salon," canceled the award and all related coverage for the work titled "It's My Head! (俺の頭だぞ！)" which had received the top prize.

The controversial work, which appeared to capture the moment a dragonfly landed on a frog's head, was highly praised and ranked first among 743 entries. The piece was exhibited at the Saitama Prefectural Museum of Modern Art last September and was featured twice in the Saitama edition of the Asahi Shimbun.

However, on social networking services (SNS), users began to point out that the image was nearly identical to an AI-generated image posted on an overseas website. Some users alleged plagiarism and AI generation, stating that the composition and color scheme matched those of a copyright-free AI image that had been distributed online.

As the controversy grew, the organizers directly contacted the winner to verify the facts. As a result, the winner admitted that the work was not personally created, leading to the cancellation of the award.

The organizers explained that they were unable to confirm whether AI was used. At the time, there were no verification procedures such as image searches during the judging process, and the contest rules did not have specific standards regarding AI-generated or manipulated images.

The Saitama Prefecture branch of the All-Japan Association of Photographic Societies and the Asahi Shimbun apologized as organizers, adding that they will review how to handle works utilizing AI technology in the future in light of this incident.