Photography With Distinction

[Mike Farley]

At a recent meeting, Wally asked if people were interested in learning more about photography distinctions which allow the holder to put letters after their name and a number of people answered in the affirmative. There are a number of ways of achieving a distinction, but two of the main methods are via an assessment run by the Royal Photographic Society (RPS) or the Photographic Alliance of Great Britain (PAGB). Whilst both have similarities in that work has to be submitted for adjudication, the approach varies between the two organisations. The RPS places more emphasis on assessing prints as a panel in which each image has both to stand on its own merits and work cohesively with the others. With the PAGB, each image is marked individually and the entrant must achieve an overall minimum score for all the shots submitted to earn the distinction. In this way, one or two less favoured images will not necessarily result in a failure, which can be the case with the RPS, nor do the images all have to be themed in some way to work as a panel.

The RPS requires all holders of its distinctions to be current members of the Society and the right to hold the award is lost if membership ceases, whereas the PAGB only requires applicants to have been full and active members of their camera club for a minimum period, which varies from two to five years according to the level of distinction sought. Once gained, the distinction is held for life with no ongoing financial commitment required once the application fee has been paid.

On 31 May, the Surrey Photographic Association is holding a workshop for those who are thinking about going for a PAGB award or want to find out more. Interest can be registed at this link - http://www.surreypa.org.uk/spa2/pagbworkshop.php. The cost for the day is just £10 and the event is being subsidised by the PAGB.

More information about its distinctions can be found on the PAGB website - http://www.thepagb.org.uk/merit.htm

[Rose]

Thanks Mike - I could be interested in this.

[Mike Farley]

Thanks Mike - I could be interested in this.

I would recommend that you register your interest ASAP. My understanding is that there will be capacity for a maximum of 50 people and they have 35 already. Members of SPA clubs are being given the first option, but it will be thrown open to clubs in other federations soon. Registering will not commit you to anything, but will give you first refusal when the arrangements are finalised. Personally, having a day of image critique with leading judges has to be worth a tenner, even if you do not end up applying for a distinction.

[Mike Farley]

This is the full communication received from SPA:

PAGB Awards Workshop - 31st May 2015

If you are considering applying for a PAGB Award for Photographic Merit - CPAGB DPAGB or MPAGB - this day is for you !

This will be an all day event on Sunday 31st May 2015 - Venue to be decided but probably Crawley area.
First priority will be given to SPA members but members of other PAGB federations are also invited to apply.
There will be a small fee to ensure we cover the expenses of the day - £10 for SPA members.

The workshop will be led by Rod Wheelans MPAGB HonPAGB MFIAP, the Chairman of the PAGB Awards Sub Committee, supported by at least two other PAGB judges who will assist with personal advice and guidance.

Full details will be available shortly but we need to get an idea of numbers so, if you are interested in attending. please complete the form here:

http://www.surreypa.org.uk/spa2/pagbworkshop.php

[Mike Farley]

Has anyone who registered an interest in this event received any further information?

[Rose]

No, just an acknowledgement.

[Mike Farley]

No, just an acknowledgement.

Thanks, Rose, that's what I suspected might be the case as I have not heard anything either. I have been in contact with SPA via the contact page on their website to find out what is happening. Assuming that image assessment will form a large part of the day, people will need to know what they have to bring. With little over a month to go, there is not a lot of time left to prepare.

[Mike Farley]

My attempt to contact SPA met with complete and utter failure as the e-mail did not reach the workshop organiser. Who knows what happened to it? A second attempt yesterday fared better and I have now had a response. Apparently e-mails were sent out about the workshop on 23 and 27 March, but my name was not on the organiser's list.

Rose - I have sent the organiser a link to this discussion to show him that at least two people have been omitted from the list of those attending, so it is a good bet that as it has happened to us, there will be others as well. I will PM you the organiser's e-mail address so that you can contact him directly. Something is seriously amiss with the way that SPA handles its communications, so better that than take pot luck using the website contact form. That seems to be an entirely random affair.

The workshop is being held in Crawley and a cheque for £10 is required up front to confirm a place. The workshop will be in two halves, with the morning session describing the requirements and standards for the various levels of award, followed by a short presentation outlining what applicants from affiliated clubs SPA need to do to apply for an award. The afternoon will comprise an assessment for which attendees are requested to bring 5 or 6 images as prints or DPIs so they that can be advised which level of distinction they should attempt.

[Rose]

Thanks for reminding me Mike, I received an email with the workshop details on 27 April (while we were away in Cornwall) and I still need to send a cheque off... although as I bank online I'm not sure I even have a chequebook ! I also need to sort out some images to take

[Mike Farley]

Rose - Good to know that some good has come out of this if it has acted as reminder.

There are some similarities between the distinctions awarded by the PAGB and RPS, but also some significant variations. The main difference is that while a distinction from either body requires the same number of images at the equivalent levels, i.e. 10, 15 or 20, images for a PAGB award are marked individually and a minimum total mark achieved. Conversely, images for a RPS distinction are assessed as a panel and while each image still has to stand on its own merits, it must fit in with the rest of the panel with no repetition of similar images. Panelling is not so important at the Licentiate level, but is definitely a major consideration at the higher levels. Note that while Licentiate applications are marked, this is not the case for Associateship and Fellowship where the adjudicators vote on whether a panel makes the grade. Some dissension is permitted for an Associateship, but the decision must be unanimous for a Fellowship.

Last month I went to a presentation by Colin Trow-Poole FRPS FPIF MPAGB and one of the things which he does is advise people about getting distinctions, giving a brief guide during his talk.

http://www.colintrowpoole.com/

Colin said that the RPS likes more adventurous work, especially if it is in mono, but club style images tend to fare better with the PAGB. What this all means is that submissions are not necessarily interchangeable between the two bodies and two sets of work might be necessary, although that does not preclude some of the same images being included. Ironically, the RPS' emphasis on panelling can sometimes lead to weaker images being included as they fit in better with the others.

Hopefully this is helpful for those in the club who are going to the workshop at the end of the month when deciding which images to take for assessment. I understand that there will be four of us there.