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Singapore Instagram star apologises for deception after posting stock library images

Daryl Aiden Yow, who describes himself as a photographer, apologised when he was caught out
Daryl Aiden Yow, who describes himself as a photographer, apologised when he was caught out

A popular Singaporean Instagram star has apologised to fans after being caught posting stock library images and indicating that it was his own work while promoting products and services. 

Daryl Aiden Yow, who describes himself as a photographer, has more than 101,000 followers on the social media site, and has worked with a number of high profile brands, including Sony and Uniqlo. 

However, his own brand as an acclaimed photographer posting stunning shots from around the world started to unravel this week when reporters working for the news site Mothership uncovered a dozen examples of edited pictures from other sites.

“S’pore photographer Daryl Aiden Yow’s pics are so lovely, they look stunningly like other people’s work,” read their damning headline. 

Original versions of the images, whose colour and composition had been changed, were sourced from Shutterstock and CanStockPhoto among other sites that included visitfaroeislands. 

In a lengthy confession released on Thursday, Yow expressed how sorry he was, saying the “outrage regarding how I have conducted myself is justified” and that he accepted full responsibility. 

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

“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,” he wrote.

“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.”

Mr Yow had described himself as a #SonyCreativeAlly in several posts and the Japanese multinational had promoted his work on its own website. 

Lego houses everywhere!

A post shared by Daryl Aiden Yow (@darylaiden) on Jan 10, 2017 at 4:57am PST

Sony told Mothership that it was “surprised and disappointed” by the reports and was looking into the 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,” the firm said. 

Uniqlo told the Straits Times that it had engaged Mr Yow for a one-off travel campaign a year ago and that he conducted an in-store talk about his travels.

Several Instagram shots appear to have been removed since the deception was uncovered, and despite Mr Yow’s contrite apology, many fans have been less than forgiving. 

“Try offering online photoshop classes as a comeback. You may be even more successful than what you were before,” said one.  “Congrats on your infamy!” said another.