A rising star Australian photographer who is known for taking sky-high, Dare Devil-like shots has been caught using stolen camera gear, after failing to remove the copyright data which linked the gear to its real owner.
According to the Daily Mail, 24-year-old Bryce Wilson — who has earned the name "Spiderman" for his creative, dangerously-angled pictures — has been found guilty for using over $11,000 in stolen equipment, after posting pictures of the gear on Instagram. Wilson has been sentenced to perform 100 hours of community service.
The incident reportedly began when Wilson responded to an online sale for two camera lenses, posted by Melbourne-based photographer Jon Grundy. After calling off a visit to Grundy's house to check out the items, Wilson obtained his home address and later broke in. Among the stolen goods was a top-of-the-line Canon 5D Mark III camera and a pricey 35mm f/1.4L lens.
Those very same items turned up in an Instagram post by Wilson a week later (it has since been removed). However, months passed before Grundy realized what happened. Another photographer discovered Grundy listed as a copyright owner in a photo Wilson was selling online. That photographer alerted Grundy, who then turned to the police, the report said.
Police found the stolen goods in Wilson's home and was convicted for burglary and handling stolen goods.
The connection was made because of the photo's EXIF data, which is assigned to each photo by the camera and contains information like the photographer's name, the make and model of the camera and lens, and other identifiers. Most widely used photo editors (like Adobe's Lightroom) will give you access to the EXIF data.
"My name was all over the copyright metadata on Bryce’s work and he hadn't even thought to take it off," Grundy told Daily Mail.
Wilson recently posted a statement on his website apologizing to Grundy for stealing his equipment. However, the page is unlisted, so you can only find it via a direct link or a tweet sent from his Twitter account.
He also added the following statement to a recent photo posted to Instagram:
"I have written a public apology to the victims of my heinous actions. The link is in my bio. I'd also like to clear up and clarify that I have not at any time profited from any work shot with the property from 2014."
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