Print Competition Thoughts from OurPPA.com

First off at national judging there are a portrait open (PO) and an electronic imaging (EI) category, plus album etc. In PO the entrant must have created the original photograph and something in the image must be recognizable as a photograph. The enhancement and artwork - digital or traditional, does not have to be done by the maker but must be done under his/her control or direction. So if you take a photograph and have someone else enhance it - it must be entered in PO. For EI the subject matter, while of course adding to the impact and affecting the overall score, is not as crucial as in PO. In EI the judges are rating the work that has been done, the degree difficulty and how well the enhancements were done. It is not necessary to include a guide print or original but it usually is helpful. If you are particularly successful with adding or subtracting elements, the panel may not even notice what you actually did. If guide prints are included then they know what to look for.

In EI the entrant can be the original photographer but not necessarily, as the judging is done primarily on the enhancements not on the photography. So a digital artist can enter EI without ever taking a photograph. Or a photographer who created the image and did his own PhotoShoping can enter in EI or PO.

As far as the issue of how much is photography and how much is artwork - that issue has been creating controversy for 30 years. Long before digital was a word in our vocabulary, some photographers were complaining that the high scoring entries were more the artist's work and not truly that of the photographer. That is one of the reasons Keith pursued his Master Artist degree - so his entries were truly his own work, and did not have any contributions from a traditional photographic artist. Through his education in traditional artwork, he became a firm believer in getting it right in camera. Once he knew how much effort it took to correct problems, he learned it was quicker and easier to take care of it before the shutter falls. This will probably still be an issue 50 years from now when instead of photographing seniors we clone them and enhance the clones.

At National judging and one regional (SE we think, not sure) PO and EI are separated. At other affiliated judging’s there is no official EI judging, and non-affiliate judging’s are at each state's or local's discretion.

Jurors are charged to judge the image put in front of them. They cannot question if an image should be disqualified from the category (PO or EI) that it is presented in. That decision is completely up to the jury chairman and in non-affiliate judging’s the print chairman may also have a say. In an affiliate judging there is not the option to move a print from PO to EI and vice versus. If it does not meet the criteria in the rules, for the category declared by the maker, it would be disqualified. It cannot be moved to the other category. In David's example, it would have to have been the jury chairman and not just a juror and it should have been disqualified under today’s rules. The maker was given the benefit of the doubt and instead of kicking the print out, it was kept in the show and moved categories. So while it was sad to not receive the award it was better than being disqualified all together which probably should have been done - if this was in fact an affiliate judging. And as David said, in the mid 90's everyone was feeling their way and trying to be as fair as possible. So that's probably why it was moved and not DQ'd. As far as the maker not knowing her lab was going to do digital artwork, well it has always been part of the rules that the artwork is done under the maker’s direction and control. It's kind of like back when there was a thickness rule. If your lab screwed up and didn't make the print thick enough, it was still your responsibility to make sure it met the requirements.

This is me talking now - not Keith. Someone mentioned about liking it better when prints were judged in categories like wedding, portrait, commercial etc. I agree with that to a point. However say a photographer gets a model and spends a whole day photographing her in locations and conditions of his choosing. The model happens to be wearing a wedding dress so the print is entered as a wedding, competing for head to head awards with a bridal image created in 2 minutes on the wedding day. Shouldn't that first print really ethically be considered a portrait? And what about a truly gifted scenic photographer who consistently scores in 90's and by putting a small tiny person one inch high in the corner now enters that image under portrait?

I think grouping everything under portrait open was an attempt to judge each print on its own merit, not assuming what circumstances it was created under. I would also like to add that just like any organization or group, PEC is never going to please everybody all the time. There will always be some members who think it should be handled differently. If you have noticed the official rules have been drastically cut in length the last year or two. I think it was in an effort to allow photographers more freedom and make it less restrictive and easier to enter yet maintain enough consistency for a fair judging. These are however strictly my opinions and I could be completely off in my assumptions.

Holly Howe M.Photog., Cr.