SWPP & BPPA 20 x 16 Print Competition 2008
David A Williams FSWPP reflects on the 16×20″ Print Competition with over £7,000 worth of prizes.
This year saw an increase in entries to 500. Two reasons bought about this increase Fabulous prizes Mac Laptops and Cintique Screens, and a growing confidence in the process.
It was indeed an international judging, this year we had the pleasure of Doug Box and Ken Sklute Panel Chairing in the Wedding/Portrait and Illustrative sections, as well as Mike MacNamee in the Sport Nature sections. I did the overall Chairman thing.
This meant more action in different rooms.some very small rooms due to the hustle and bustle of an active, happening convention. Audience and judges rose to the occasion with aplomb.
It was a set aim of the Panel Chairs to elicit responses and comments as much as possible. After all, what does a mere number mean to an entrant That said, hopefully next year, our audience will more accurately reflect this attention to the importance we place on education and feedback.
I am very pleased to report that the judges worked very hard and with great integrity on their comments and panel discussions. These were decisions made without egos, or grandstanding just with the benefit of their combined intelligence and experience.
As always, there was often a large variance in scores this is healthy, and indicative of the individuals involved in the process. Sometimes, you couldn’t slide a toothpick between the five scores.
Many judges entered, as is required for a healthy system, but are removed anything from two to ten prints before their own image comes up. They dont know why they are being removed, and because we had a goodly number of people to judge the panel was kept dynamic by constant rearrangements of judges.
I would like to thank everyone, especially our print handlers and behind the scenes people, who make it all happen. This is a process of constant improvement, always with the entrant in mind. We plan better print handling and viewing systems for both the judges and the audience for 2008.
Both selecting the Category winners and the Overall winner was most definitely NOT easy. Its worth sharing that each decision was made by at least 7 judges. The final Overall winner was debated long and enthusiastically passion and fact joining together for a final clear majority.
Will every judgement and every decision made be to the taste of the entrant Will they hear what they want to hear Will the scores match their own view of their work……Not always. Guess you had to be there, and see what the work was up against.
I am very happy with the choice of Judges. They were encouraged and occasionally cajoled by their Panel Chairs they had to explain themselves clearly and factually. They all put their best into it. We did notice a lack of female judges however. Panel Chairs also took their turn at the ‘firestep, judging as well.
So, see you at next year’s SWPP 16×20 Print Competition. Want me to reserve the front seats for you?
