Holy Schnikes!! I’m an award-winning photographer!

Since I’ve been doing documentary family work, I’ve entered two contests sponsored by two different organizations. I love each one for very different reasons. I sooooo wish there were some way they could merge their awesomeness. That might be one of the coolest things ever. Let me explain.

The first contest I entered that was dedicated specifically to documentary family photography was through the DFA (the Documentary Family Awards). The insanely cool thing about their contests is that they videotape the judging, streaming it live as well as posting it for those who can’t watch live. It’s SO incredibly helpful to be able to watch and listen as the judges critique the photos and discuss with each other which photos should advance, which should not, and most importantly, why. They’ve turned judging into a learning experience, which is absolutely awesome. As my children would say while holding out their hands, “Ten thumbs up!!!”

On the flip side, it does get frustrating. Now that you can bear witness to the proceedings, it gets tough, especially toward the end as they begin to toss out photos which you thought were clear winners. I found myself yelling out loud at them, like people maniacally yelling at the players on TV during a football game (NO!!!! How could you do that?!?!). At the end of the day though, there’s not much you can do. It just goes to show how subjective art is and how hard (and sometimes seemingly unfair) it is to pick just a handful of winners (or two handfuls – they select a top ten and then ten honorable mentions).

This brings me to the second contest I recently entered, sponsored by the FPJA (Family Photojournalist Association). What makes their contests so great? Well, they have a whole slew of professional photojournalists that volunteer their time to act as judges. For any given contest, four of these judges are selected to go through the submissions and choose ALL the photos that they deem worthy of an award. If all four judges select a photo, it receives a gold medallion; if 3 out of 4 select a photo, it receives a blue medallion; and if 2 out of 4 select a photo, it receives a purple medallion. I just love the reality that ALL worthy images can be awarded as such. Obviously, as with any art contest, you can’t avoid some amount of subjectivity. And with more photos being recognized, the award winners don’t receive a tangible prize other than recognition.

Now don’t get me wrong, it would be incredible to be THE winner of a photo contest, but I think there’s something possibly even more special about being recognized equally among many of your peers, who are all insanely talented and who all serve as a constant source of inspiration. I know I feel incredibly honored to have received five awards in the FPJA’s most recent contest. Thank you so much to the FPJA and congratulations to everyone that was awarded (and if you haven’t already seen all of the photos that were awarded, check them out here!)

xo Anna

#youreverydayisworthit