This handsome and heroic surfing war photographer never existed, but news media fell in love with him
‘Eduardo Martins’ had bylines in publications around the world, but his face belonged to a British surfer, and his photos were taken by others
The striking images in the portfolio of the photographer going by the name of “Eduardo Martins” captured the strife of refugees in Iraq and children in Gaza, of families fleeing destroyed towns in Syria.
The handsome blue-eyed Brazilian portrayed himself as an heroic photojournalist who risked his life on the front lines of war to “show the public the reality of these places” and move viewers to “make a difference,” he said in one interview. His name appeared alongside images published in international media outlets such as the Wall Street Journal, Vice and BBC Brasil. He claimed he did humanitarian work for the United Nations. He had almost 125,000 Instagram followers, including revered photographers worldwide.
As if the 32-year-old’s supposed career wasn’t compelling enough, his backstory made it better.
The man who called himself Martins said he was diagnosed with leukaemia at 18 and spent seven years bedridden in intensive care. “It was chemo or college,” he told a Brazilian surfing website. He said his father died of liver failure.
All of this, it turns out, was false.