External Competitions - Exhibitions Qualifications
Overview
The purpose of this series of notes is to inform members of the variety of external competitions and qualifications that are available to you to enter individually or as part of a Preston Photographic Society (PPS) club entry.
What organisations administer competitions, exhibitions and qualifications?
PPS get involved in national and regional competitions through our membership of the Lancashire and Cheshire Photographic Union (LCPU) region of the Photographic Alliance of Great Britain (PAGB). We also take part in a number of local competitions with nearby camera clubs.
Qualifications are available through the PAGB, Royal Photographic Society (RPS), the International Federation of Photographic Art (FIAP) and others.
Exhibitions are organised by British Photographic Exhibitions (BPE), Photographic Society of America (PSA) and FIAP. Awards are available at exhibition level and based on numbers of overall acceptances.
A more detailed note explaining the above (and all the acronyms) is on our website.
Qualifications are available through the PAGB, Royal Photographic Society (RPS), the International Federation of Photographic Art (FIAP) and others.
Exhibitions are organised by British Photographic Exhibitions (BPE), Photographic Society of America (PSA) and FIAP. Awards are available at exhibition level and based on numbers of overall acceptances.
A more detailed note explaining the above (and all the acronyms) is on our website.
Why would I be interested in taking part in external competitions, exhibitions or qualifications?
There are several possible reasons:
Improve and take your work to another level
There is no doubt that external competition exposes you to high quality work and different ideas and allows you to test your work against established and recognised photographers.
Challenge yourself to succeed
You may have to try different genres and learn new skills as well as enhancing your current knowledge.
Recognition
Seeing your accepted images displayed in an exhibition or gaining a recognised accreditation can be highly rewarding. In addition, exhibitions (salons) generally award medals, ribbons and certificates for the top images.
Teamwork
See your work included within the PPS entry and be part of the team.
Improve and take your work to another level
There is no doubt that external competition exposes you to high quality work and different ideas and allows you to test your work against established and recognised photographers.
Challenge yourself to succeed
You may have to try different genres and learn new skills as well as enhancing your current knowledge.
Recognition
Seeing your accepted images displayed in an exhibition or gaining a recognised accreditation can be highly rewarding. In addition, exhibitions (salons) generally award medals, ribbons and certificates for the top images.
Teamwork
See your work included within the PPS entry and be part of the team.
How do I take part?
That depends on which type of competition or exhibition it is that you are interested in.
For Club competitions, our governance and selection process is described below, and a separate note describing the process in detail is available on the website.
For exhibitions and qualifications, more details can be found in the relevant section or ask the external competitions secretary.
For Club competitions, our governance and selection process is described below, and a separate note describing the process in detail is available on the website.
For exhibitions and qualifications, more details can be found in the relevant section or ask the external competitions secretary.
Governance
Overall responsibility rests with the PPS Committee who delegate the operation and overseeing to the External Competition Secretary who is a member of the PPS Committee.
The Club enter the same competitions each year and any variation from this is agreed by the Committee.
Image selection is the overall responsibility of the External Competition Secretary who will normally discharge this through a Selection Committee, chaired by the External Competition Secretary who has the casting vote for any dispute. The members of the Selection Committee will typically number 3 - 5 including the chair.
Entries can be accepted from any current members of the Club, within the constraints of the rules for any individual competition, and the membership will be notified of the competitions within a timely manner to allow this to happen.
The Selection Committee has the right to restrict entries e.g. to podium images from our internal competitions where practicality and timescales dictate this to be necessary. However there is a general principle of inclusiveness which allows any image by any member to be considered.
The aim of the Selection Committee will be to have as wide a representation as possible commensurate with a good club entry. Images typically cannot be submitted more than once to the same competition and some rules are more restrictive.
Members do need to be aware of the following key points:
For the 2021-2022 season, we are trialling a Selection Bank.
In essence, members are invited to submit up to 5 images (Open) and 5 images (Nature) for consideration by the Selection Committee.
Images are then drawn from this for each competition. Members can update their selection bank entries at any time. A separate note on how this works is available on the website.
For more information contact the PPS External Competition Secretary by email on contactppsexternalcompsec@gmail.com.
The Club enter the same competitions each year and any variation from this is agreed by the Committee.
Image selection is the overall responsibility of the External Competition Secretary who will normally discharge this through a Selection Committee, chaired by the External Competition Secretary who has the casting vote for any dispute. The members of the Selection Committee will typically number 3 - 5 including the chair.
Entries can be accepted from any current members of the Club, within the constraints of the rules for any individual competition, and the membership will be notified of the competitions within a timely manner to allow this to happen.
The Selection Committee has the right to restrict entries e.g. to podium images from our internal competitions where practicality and timescales dictate this to be necessary. However there is a general principle of inclusiveness which allows any image by any member to be considered.
The aim of the Selection Committee will be to have as wide a representation as possible commensurate with a good club entry. Images typically cannot be submitted more than once to the same competition and some rules are more restrictive.
Members do need to be aware of the following key points:
- Entering images in our internal competitions automatically gives PPS permission to select these as part of our entry in any external competition unless you explicitly opt out.
- Under LCPU (etc) rules you can only enter images as the representative of one club. Any member who is a member of another club should declare this and decide which Club they are representing. You should tell PPS and the other club which club you intend to represent as failure to do so can lead to one or both clubs being disqualified
For the 2021-2022 season, we are trialling a Selection Bank.
In essence, members are invited to submit up to 5 images (Open) and 5 images (Nature) for consideration by the Selection Committee.
Images are then drawn from this for each competition. Members can update their selection bank entries at any time. A separate note on how this works is available on the website.
For more information contact the PPS External Competition Secretary by email on contactppsexternalcompsec@gmail.com.