Mr Daryl Aiden Yow, 27, posted his apology on his Instagram account on Thursday, one day after local news site Mothership reported that it suspected him of doctoring stock images.

Mr Yow said: "The outrage regarding how I have conducted myself is justified and I accept full responsibility for my actions and all consequences that arise from those actions.

Read also: Sports photography more than just point, shoot

"I was wrong to have claimed that stock images and other people's work were my own. I was also wrong to have used false captions that misled my followers and those who viewed my images. Having marketed myself as a photographer, I fell far short of what was expected of me and disappointed those who believed - or wanted to believe - in me. For all of that, I apologise."

 

Hi everyone, I didn’t intend to release any statement regarding recent events, largely because I did not know how I could accurately express how sorry I am. But seeing how people are now making baseless and false allegations against those close to me—simply by mere association-- I have decided to confront the facts instead of leaving them subject to speculation. I did not want to let any more people down. The outrage regarding how I have conducted myself is justified and I accept full responsibility for my actions and all consequences that arise from those actions. I was wrong to have claimed that stock images and other people’s work were my own. I was also wrong to have used false captions that misled my followers and those who viewed my images. Having marketed myself as a photographer, I fell far short of what was expected of me and disappointed those who believed—or wanted to believe— in me. For all of that, I apologise. Those close to me disagree with my actions and have asked, whenever they felt that something was not right about my images, that I stop my actions immediately. I did not take their advice seriously and would give reasons that I thought would assuage any concerns they had over those images—just enough so that we would move on to other issues. I let them down with my actions. I would also like to take the opportunity to clear the air. The end-products of my collaborations with my friends remained honest and fair. Whatever my shortcomings were, I did not bring them to my collaborations. That would not have been fair to those who collaborated with me, and they would not have allowed such practices to be carried out in any event. These people are hard-working professionals and I was hurt to see people make baseless allegations or insinuations against them or question their integrity. They should not be hounded for my errors. To that end, I hope that these baseless allegations or insinuations would stop. I know I have erred and hope that I will be given the time and space to grow and better myself. For those who have stood by me, I would like to thank you and hope that I will be able to earn such kindness in the future.

A post shared by Daryl Aiden Yow (@darylaiden) on Jun 21, 2018 at 12:24am PDT

In the Mothership article, the website pointed out that many of Mr Yow's Instagram photos looked like stock images found on royalty-free stock photo sites, including Shutterstock and Getty Images.

In the caption for a photograph showing a whitewash building set against turquoise waters with bougainvillea flowers in the foreground, Mr Yow had said that it was of the Greek island Santorini and that he had captured the shot with the Sony a7R II. He added: "Look at the kind of colours this camera produces!"

Mothership said the picture bears a striking resemblance to a Shutterstock image.

In another sponsored post, Mr Yow can be seen holding a camera standing in an alley. The image of the alley, sans Mr Yow, was found on stock image site Depositphotos. The two photos and other images have been deleted from Mr Yow's Instagram account.

When contacted before Mr Yow posted his apology, Sony Singapore said that it is looking into the matter.

In response to queries from The Straits Times, it said on Thursday: "We are surprised and disappointed with what has been reported and are currently looking into this matter. Sony strongly encourages the art of creativity, however, we do not condone any action such as plagiarism and take a serious stance on it."

When asked if Sony was aware that Mr Yow had used stock photos on Instagram, a spokesman declined to comment.

Another of Mr Yow's clients, Uniqlo, said it had engaged him for a one-off travel campaign a year ago and he conducted an in-store talk about his travels.

Mothership said that Mr Yow started crediting the stock images after its article was published.

In an interview with news site Mustsharenews on Wednesday, Mr Yow said that he had paid for the stock images and that his clients are aware that he had purchased stock images for the promotional posts. He has more 100,000 followers on Instagram.

Read also: How to take extraordinary pictures

In response to queries from ST, Mr Dennis Toh, founder of influencer marketing and media agency The Influencer Network, said there is "nothing wrong" with social media influencers buying stock photos to repost on their own feeds.

"However, if there’s an intention to deceive or misrepresent, which in this case he is a photographer, then the act has infringed good ethical boundaries," he added. 

He said: "When we work with influencers, we would check whether their numbers (of followers) are authentic. But for content, we don’t because it’s their prerogative."

Popular

Kadin urges stability after Constitutional Court ruling

Jokowi says transition to new government to begi

BCA loan disbursement surges 17.1 percent yoy in first quarter