Photo Judges, They are Not

Most photographic competition, contests, and/or exhibits are often judged by competent and professional photographers. This was not the case with one particular meetup group in metro-Atlanta. The organizer and his favorite co-organizer selected a judge for each of their past two competition/exhibits without the advice and/or consent from their steering committee. The judge’s names were not revealed until shortly before or after the event/announcement of the winners.

What does it take to be a photographic judge of a photographic competition/exhibit? What are the basic requirements? These are a couple of questions I posed to create what I thought should be the basic requirements.

First and foremost, a judge should have a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree (BFA). The four years of college would expose the student to concepts, history, practical experience, and an implanted knowledge of all the elements of one's craft. Secondly, the judge should be a professional photographer whereby most of his/her income is derived from the craft of a photography related business. In other words, no semi-pro should apply. Thirdly, the judge should be certified by a professional and reputable organization such as Professional Photographers of America (PPA).

The judge should have an on-line portfolio. This affords the organizer and steering committee of the competition/exhibit to view the judge’s portfolio and make a final determination. If the judge is retired, there should still be an on-line portfolio or readily available prints. There should not be an excuse for not having a portfolio.

It was post determined in the first competition/exhibit (2009) that the judge, a retired photographer, had no verifiable references and no portfolio. For the second competition/exhibit (2010), the judge had no BFA degree, was not a member of any reputable photographic organization, and was not a professional photographer; he was a biology professor at a local college. The second judge’s on-line images consisted of the same pattern of frequent mistakes often made by non-professionals.

I tried to find a reasonable explanation as to the selection process of these two judges. Honestly, I determined that there was not any valid reason to select these particular judges on their purported merits. It became obvious that neither met the basic requirements expected of a photography judge.

Regardless of what I discovered after the fact, the second judge was kept secret and was not revealed until the competition/exhibit winners were selected. I was disappointed in the manner of the selection of judges and unfortunately, I consider both competition/exhibits to be invalid.

Simply put, neither judge selections should have been made; they were not qualified to judge.

Hidden Winter Destination in Atlanta

By Ken "Max" Parks
Examiner.com Writer/Photographer
January 10, 2011

About 35 miles north of Atlanta is a small town of seemingly little importance. However, it has a hidden treasure in a very modern museum and an opportunity for Atlanta travelers to visit. The Booth Western Museum in Cartersville has been the temporary host of the best photographic displays ever produced, an Ansel Adams collection.

The “Ansel Adams: A Legacy” exhibit is a collection of his finest prints made from his California darkroom. The 130 prints were produced by the master of photography during the 1960s and 70s when he was at the pinnacle of his superior skills.

These prints are exactly the way he wanted them displayed; they were not produced from an assistant or cropped by a publishing editor. That's what makes them unique. Ansel Adams rendered the artisitc prints from negatives which he considered to be a sketching pad. He applied the mastery of the darkroom to create images that continue to amaze photographers and artist to this very day. Surprisingly, the manipulation of his darkroom craft is very similar to the digital post-production of software applications such as Photoshop.

The people of the digital generation may be disillusioned about the Ansel Adams process of creativity. The same have never fumbled with a roll of film while stretching the plastic across the tracks in the back of a camera on a cold wintry day. They will discover the darkroom mock-up at the museum was the way Ansel Adams invented the “Zone System.” He fabricated the coding of dark and light gradations with dodging and burn-in techniques of his magic-wands.

Some may claim that Adams was a purist and that the images were exactly what came out of his box-type cameras. Instead, we find that his artistic renditions were the ingenuity of his darkroom wizardry, the power of a illusion mixed in his caldron of creativity. Perhaps this can be said, “His work-flow from the shutter release to the chemical processes and techniques in the darkroom show the true genius of Ansel Adams.”

The “Ansel Adams: A Legacy” exhibit and entry to the Booth Western Museum cost is $10 for general admission and is open through February 20, 2011.