About a month ago we reported that José Luis Rodriguez had come under fire after winning the prestigious Veolia Environnement Wildlife Photographer of the Year award. The winning photograph depicted a rare, Iberian wolf hopping a fence to reach food placed outside by the photographer, but rival photographers soon began to question whether the wolf was indeed a wild wolf.

After a month of investigation, Rodriguez has been stripped of the prestigious award and banned for life, in what some are now calling “the biggest scandal to ever hit the world of wildlife photography”. The winning image was selected from among 43,135 submitted from 94 countries.

A statement on the competition’s website states,

The judging panel looked at a range of evidence and took specialist advice from panel judges who have extensive experience of photographing wildlife including wolves. They also considered the responses to specific questions put to the photographer José Luis Rodriguez.

However, Rodriguez continues to deny that the wolf was a captive wolf.

(via Amateur Photographer)

Victor Pinchuk, the Ukrainian billionaire who purchased the photograph 99 Cent II Diptychon in 2007 for a record breaking $3.34 million, has launched an international award for artists called the Future Generation Art Prize.

The biennial prize awards $100,000 to a young artist under the age of 35. Anyone who meets the age requirement can apply online through the award’s website. Once the nominations have been received, 100 art experts from all over the world each select 2-5 candidates. From there, another selection committee reviews the resulting 200-500 entries and selects 20 artists for an exhibition. The winner will then be selected from the exhibition.

Pinchuk, who is 49, has only been collecting art for five years, but has ranked among the most active collectors during that time. Though he will not take part in selecting the winner of the prize, the prize stipulates that the finalists must include the winner of a separate Ukrainian award that he established. One of Pinchuk’s goals through his museums and awards is to establish Ukranian capital city Kiev as one of the cultural hubs of the world.

Future Generation Art Prize (via PDNPulse)

Image credit: Photo by Sergei Illin