They Missed the Watermark When ‘Borrowing’ a Photo for Syria’s Passport. Now It Is Everywhere
Translated from Polish and summarized by DistantNews. Read the original for the full story.
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Context piece
- A Syrian passport illustration of Damascus’s historic al-Hamidiyah Souk includes photographer Waseem Asmar’s visible watermark.
- Users on Reddit drew attention to the image, which appears to have been based on Asmar’s photograph.
- The passport model entered circulation on Aug. 20, 2023, and remains valid under the EU’s PRADO register.
A photographer’s watermark appears inside Syrian passports, on an illustration of Damascus’s famous al-Hamidiyah Souk. The image carries the words “WASEEM ASMAR PHOTOGRAPHY” across a bazaar wall.
Users on Reddit noticed the mark on pages 34 and 35 of the 48-page document. The illustration appears to have been based on a photograph by Syrian photographer Waseem Asmar, although it is not known whether he authorized its use.
The oversight suggests that whoever designed the document either failed to notice the watermark or did not remove it. The passports entered circulation on Aug. 20, 2023, during Bashar al-Assad’s rule.
The error does not invalidate the documents. According to the European Union’s PRADO register, passports of this design remain valid, meaning the watermark will stay in circulation until the documents expire or are withdrawn.
About this summary
Originally published by Rzeczpospolita in Polish. Translated, summarized, and contextualized automatically by DistantNews, with a note on how the source frames the story. Not individually reviewed before publishing. How this works.
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