A few months ago, I got notice that one of my prints, “Clean Cut” received a seal in the Southeast PPA (Professional Photographers of America) District photographic competition. So what does that mean? It means that once that print goes into PPA’s International Photographic Competition, it’s guaranteed to receive at least merit status, if not better. So what the heck does THAT mean? Here’s how it works:
You send in your prints, and they are shown along with a couple thousand others, to a panel of judges. At this point, it’s like Project Runway – you’re either in or you’re out. If your print scores 80 or above, you’re in. 80 or below, you’re out. If you’re in, your print gets a merit and moves on to the next round.
In the next round, the judges choose the best of the best for the Loan Collection. These prints become part of a traveling exhibition and the photographer receives an additional merit. In order to “go loan”, your print must be voted in by a majority of the Loan panel. If it doesn’t, your print becomes part of the General Collection.
And then there is the Showcase Book, which is sort of a judges choice award. If your merited print doesn’t get the majority of votes required to go loan, and one (or more) of the judges thinks it should have, he/she has the option of putting your print in the Showcase Book. Each judge is only allowed to choose 6 prints, so the spaces are few and far between.
I actually forgot to check the results of the International Competition until about two months after it was over…but I got a nice surprise. “Clean Cut” didn’t just merit – it went Loan. This is the same print that won two awards earlier this year, the same print I haven’t shown you due to the content. And I’m still not showing you! 😉 But I can show you another one, because that wasn’t the only award I got! “The Classic Gentleman” was selected for the Showcase Book:.jpg "award-winning-wedding-photographers-01")
