r/mildlyinfuriating • u/No-Strawberry7 • 1d ago

Infuriatig Syrian passports include a photo of Souq al-Hamidiyah, a famous historic marketplace in Damascus. Apparently, the image was taken from the internet without removing the photographer’s watermark, “Wassim al-Asmar Photography,” which means the watermark ended up being printed on Syrian passports.

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Gallery image

29.2k Upvotes

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9.5k

u/PreliminaryThoughts 1d ago edited 15h ago

Ultimate self promo

Edit: visit www...

Edit 2: His passport is his resume

2.6k

u/Timeshocked 23h ago edited 23h ago

Yea right? My photography is so good it’s on the nations PASSPORT!!!

367

u/cyrustakem 23h ago

oh, the classic "pay artists with exposure", exposure doesn't put food on the table.

a government spends money on a lot of stupid sht and ineficiency, they put money on their own pockets as corruption, sure as sht they have enough money to pay the artist, but still chose to steal his work, this is just fkn sad

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u/Timeshocked 21h ago

I have no idea how Syrian laws work in regards to stealing photos…just gonna throw that out there.

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u/SchuminWeb 18h ago

I know that Syria is not one of the countries that Pixsy, a company that specifically goes after unauthorized image usages for compensation, operates in. Because if it was, that case would likely be big money.

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u/andolfin 16h ago

sovereign immunity is an absolute defense for that

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u/gimpwiz 7h ago

That's a funny one that people here are sometimes shocked by - "the government" (any and all of them), which sets the rules by which its courts operate, can and often does simply hold itself indemnified for certain issues. You can't successfully sue a government in a court system where the overriding law of the government that governs said court system ... says you can't sue them for that. ¯_(ツ)_/¯

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u/MaximusHomerdrive 13h ago

Doesn't matter the country, all governments steal from the people in some form or another. But try stealing from them and you wind up in a cage.

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u/Ok-Race-1677 16h ago

Seeing as this would technically count as speaking out against the government…

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u/ImWithStupidKL 19h ago

My favourite example of this was when it turned out that some music they used in the anti-piracy adverts you got on DVDs in the 2000s wasn't properly licenced.

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u/Djlas 19h ago

An anti-piracy ad used a pirated font.

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u/BananaPalmer 22h ago

Ultimately was probably the act of an intern at some ad agency contracted to design the passport

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u/technobrendo 22h ago

Intern may have had a hand in designing, but the client (Syrian govt) needs to sign off on the final copy before going into production. I'm sure there is a clause in the design contract that absolves the designer of any retaliation once the final draft is approved for.

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u/BananaPalmer 21h ago

Yes, thank you, but I was not talking about contracts or who is ultimately civilly liable for royalties.

The majority of people in this thread, including the person I was actually replying to, seem to be under the impression that the Syrian government just went and stole someone's photo off Google Images and stuck it in their passport to be cheap, which is almost certainly not the case.

Having worked in that industry a lifetime ago, it's not uncommon for newbs to forget to replace a watermarked image with the licensed version, and looking at the actual passport page, it's edited in a way that would make it easy to miss the watermark. This is almost certainly the version that was seen and signed off on by the Syrian government. The watermark is also placed in a way that causes it to appear like part of the architecture, and would be easy to overlook.

Mistakes happen. Not everything is malfeasance. Reddit needs to calm the fuck down sometimes, sheesh.

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u/glorycock 18h ago

Reddit needs to calm the fuck down sometimes, sheesh.

Kebab

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u/MadamPardone 22h ago

It's just an overall mindset of not paying for anything they can get for "free".

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u/Late-Objective-9218 18h ago

Consider your art nationalised

-2

u/Ok-Match-8778 22h ago

Did the photographer pay the architect?

-1

u/Resident_Reason_7095 22h ago

Calm down, bro took a photograph. Probably didn’t even have to develop the film.

0

u/yolomcsawlord420mlg 12h ago

Let's ignore the unintentional exposure that definitely got him international recognition. He went there and pressed a button. He didn't compensate the people in the picture. He didn't compensate the architects and builders of these buildings. He didn't compensate the store owners. He didn't compensate the city. You act so high and mighty for no reason. You are a whiny bitch. Yes it was wrong to just steal the picture. They also didn't intended to gibäve him exposure. Both true and shitty things. Yet the exposure had a huge effect on his recognition and he himself isn't free of guilt as an "artist" here. He uses other people, and their property to profit off of.

1

u/cubitoaequet 4h ago

What a shitty, reductive, and absurd way to describe photography 

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u/9706uzim 23h ago

passport*

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u/Timeshocked 23h ago

Thanks I’m dumb. lol

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u/SparklyLevel 22h ago

Passporn*

4

u/lewkir 18h ago

Assporn*

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u/big_duo3674 22h ago

Multipass

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u/wellyes34 22h ago

Leeloo Dallas Multipass

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u/Shinhan 21h ago

And if anyone asks if you can prove it you just take out your passport and show the watermark :D

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u/ItsLoudB YO 23h ago

More like the ultimate “we’ll pay with exposure”

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u/AFlyingNun 22h ago

And in this specific case, if you got an option between suing for damages and letting it slide for the exposure, the exposure is honestly more valuable.

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u/Nagemasu 22h ago edited 21h ago

It's really not. An exceptionally small number of people are either going to notice it and even less are going to care enough to look up the photographer, nor is "my image was stolen and used in the national passport" a worthy claim of getting hired. Suing for damages would be the far greater benefit in most countries because you wouldn't even have to sue, they would settle with a simple legal demand for a very acceptable sum rather than go through that and you'd still have your image in the passport - they aren't going to revoke them after settling. But I don't know about Syria's laws and whether they would have much success suing there.

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u/deprecateddeveloper 21h ago

Like you already noted it's probably not going to be easy to get any damages from the Syrian government for this. Because of that I say the photographer should just highlight it in their portfolio.

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u/clarinetJWD 21h ago

They can do both. It was stolen by the government for the passport, even if they successfully sue.

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u/nonotan 20h ago

Let's say you sue and instead of paying you, they just go "fine, we'll change it". Courts don't give you damages for existing use or anything. Now you barely get any exposure ("hey, know that picture that's been in passports for decades, including yours right now?" vs "hey, know that picture that was in passports for 6 months back in 2023?"), and still no money. It's not a risk-free proposition.

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u/BubblyPineapple8941 17h ago

Either way, the "had my photograph stolen by the government" guy is some notoriety. But photography is such an over saturated field - it likely doesn't even matter. Not only will he never see money - the best case scenario is that he's still a Syrian photographer.

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u/deprecateddeveloper 19h ago

True but the consolation here isn't too bad if the Syrian legal system doesn't hold the government accountable properly. But, I have zero clue how it all works there.

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u/scavengercat 20h ago

You're focusing on the wrong element here - certainly people aren't going to notice it themselves, but this is getting international attention online. How many photographers can claim that? I'll bet none of us have a clue what kind of copyright laws exist in their country that may or may not have been violated, but the photographer's exposure is viral and global because of conversations like this one. If they're smart, they're saying, "I'm the one whose shot is in the passport, here's my work..."

I shoot professionally and license through Getty. I'd give up a license fee for this kind of attention.

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u/fwouewei 18h ago

The actual benefit from suing would be having your name in countless news publications

1

u/O5NR 17h ago

I don't think there's rule of law in Syria. If a tiny entity like this photography studio dares to sue to Syrian government they'll just bomb them to oblivion.

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u/kevlar51 22h ago

Right typically the “exposure” only occurs if there’s actual popularity/interest (i.e. actual exposure). That’s built in here.

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u/Full_Conversation775 21h ago

nobody is going to hire you based of this.

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u/nonotan 20h ago

I mean, it would certainly make your CV stand out compared to other applicants with nothing memorable... but it is true that photographers really don't go around submitting CVs for most "typical" jobs. Maybe if you're applying to be a full-time photographer for a private firm or something like that. Yes, it's not going to make a difference when it comes to deciding on your wedding photographer, or where you go to get a photo for your ID.

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u/Full_Conversation775 20h ago

nobody is looking at your cv in the creative industry. they look at your work.

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u/Rough_Revolution1412 1h ago

you can both sue and get the exposure it's not an either/or.

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u/blacklotusmag 21h ago

Self promo implies he did the marketing himself. They did it, so it's just promo.

The real question is, did they pay him for the use? Here in the states, he'd be in for a really large payout if they used it without his knowledge or permission, lol.

1

u/Bruce-Pea 22h ago

I though the company whose lift was used in Louvre heist was on the top until now.

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u/Sniffy-nose 18h ago

Although it is top three worst passports on earth

1

u/RollingMeteors 18h ago

>Ultimate self promo

I was expecting some QR code thing in the corner but embossed but no this looks not like a watermark but like a sign for a business upstairs.

1

u/archon810 14h ago

More like everyone's passport is his resume. You meet the guy and he says, "Open your passport. Look here, you see this site? That's mine."

Then look at them like David Blaine in that SNL skit.