A fake wolf in any other clothing is...

... still, apparently, a fake wolf, at least according to the judges of the 2009 BBC Wildlife Photographer of the Year awards.

In an article published on the BBC website Wildlife photographer stripped of award photographer Jose Luis Rodriguez was the recently crowned winner of the Wildlife Photographer of the Year award has been disqualified after judges ruled that the featured wolf was probably a "model".

Despite the panel's decision Rodriguez strongly denied that the wolf was a trained animal, according to a statement from the competition organizers. His photograph was selected as grand prize from more than 43,000 entries in October 2009.

The panel stripped Rodriguez and decided this year will be the first in 43 that no grand prize winner will be awarded.

I'm deeply saddened by this "problematic photo". Since the photographer denies the wolf is fake and the panel has ruled otherwise it resurfaces the question of what I refer to as the "covenant with the image". There has long been fakery in photography - since virtually its inception. In fact the miracle of photography is its ability to capture many things our eyes can not, and in so doing reveal worlds, emotions, perspectives that can awe, amaze, motivate and inspire. The one thing that we have had is a long standing agreement, that is photography, inclusive of the creator, when the image being shared is from realms of wildlife, nature, and journalism, respects a covenant with the image. That covenant allows all viewers to engage, rely, depend,... simply put, to trust, and in turn make valued decisions about our world based on that trust. Tear the covenant and you tear the trust.

Whether that trust is broken by a would-be contest winner or a trusted publication as in the mysterious moving pyramids in National Geographic (No one might have noticed had Gordon Gahan [the photographer], not voiced a complaint) the fallout becomes a source of controversy and erodes if not murders our trust. Some say all photographs are a lie, since they freeze a moment, but that's a comment of sheer stupidity. Is Henri Cartier-Bresson's leaping man frozen moment a lie? Is Eddie Adams' Vietnam execution of Nguyen Van Lem photo a lie? Is a memory a lie because it's frozen in our minds? In each we trust the source.

I have no idea if Rodriguez is pulling the wolf over our eyes. The leaping wolf photo is a wonderfully executed image, and if his covenant with us is indeed intact, I am saddened for him, if not then bravo the panel, regardless, the covenant with the image has been tarnished.