PPA taking entries for 2019 International Photographic Competition

Professional Photographers of America (PPA) is now accepting entries for this year’s International Photographic Competition (IPC). The IPC challenges photographers to push their artistic and technical photography skills to the next level by creating and presenting their best work to a panel of judges.

The competition attracts image submissions from the best of the best in the photography industry from all over the world and urges others to push themselves to join the ranks of the elite. This year’s entries will be judged August 18-23, 2019 at PPA headquarters in Atlanta, Ga. Judging is open to the public and requires no reservation or admission fee. Interested artists and observers unable to make it to Georgia for the competition can watch it unfold live at Stream.theIPC.org.

This year marks the first for a new competition category: wedding photography. Meant for real wedding photographers and featuring work that was taken at an actual wedding, the Wedding Competition category leads to the new Master of Wedding Photography degree from PPA.

To enter the IPC, photographers submit prints, electronic files and physical and/or digital albums to be judged by a panel of qualified experts. Competitors must designate the category under which each image is being submitted. The three categories include photographic open, artist competition, and wedding competition. Submissions will either merit or not merit and are judged against a standard of excellence using PPA’s “12 elements of a merit image”. Images that earn merits will move on to the second round of judging, which could possibly earn an additional merit and a place in the prestigious Loan Collection. These images are compiled into a book, published by Marathon Press, and will be showcased in a special exhibit at Imaging USA 2020 in Nashville, Tennessee, January 19-21, 2020.

Those who don’t earn merits don’t have to leave empty-handed; critiques from IPC judges will be available upon request as a way to help participants find areas of improvement and prepare for future photo competitions. “[Photographic] Competition has meant more than I can even say. It’s been such a tremendous opportunity to learn,” says Ella Carlson EA-ASP, M.Photog.M.Artist.Cr., CPP, and the 2019 Grand Imaging Award winner.

Competitors must submit their images by 5 pm EST, July 18. Physical print entry cases must be received within seven days of the entry deadline. Late registration (for an additional fee) runs until August 1. For more information on submission criteria and rules and how to enter visit PPA.com/IPC.

About PPA:

Professional Photographers of America (PPA) is the largest and longest-standing nonprofit photography trade association with a 150-year history. It currently helps 30,000+ pros elevate their craft and grow their business with resources, protection, and education, all under PPA’s core guiding principle of closing the gap between what photographers do as artists and entrepreneurs and what consumers want.