It’s been a week since the most exciting event of my working life, and it still feels a little bit unreal! I also can’t believe it’s been that long and I haven’t officially posted this news until now!
It all began early last Sunday morning in Sydney when judging started for the 2014 AIPP ACT/NSW Professional Photography Awards. This was my fifth year entering, and without doubt the year I’ve put the most time and effort into my entries, mostly because I’d committed to entering two categories (Family & Illustrative). However, this year was completely different to any other year, because this year I was also asked to be a judge. So although the week leading up to the entry closing date was frantic with stress and artistic meltdowns and very late nights, the week leading up to the actual judging wasn’t at all about the nervous anticipation of my prints being judged (as it usually is), it was about trying to quell my complete terror about getting up on the panel next to experienced photographers I admire and look up to, and doing justice to the honour of that role!!!
For those who aren’t aware of how the process works, here’s a quick rundown: Judging for ACT and NSW is combined, however there are separate titles for each state. The judging is run across two days, and divided into various categories (portrait, wedding, family, illustrative, travel, landscape, etc). Each print is judged individually on it’s own merits, by a panel of five judges. Judging is public and also live-streamed. Prints are scored between 50 and 100. Prints scored between 80 and 89 receive Silver Awards (with 85-89 being a Silver Distinction) and prints over 90 receive Gold Awards (with 95-100 being a Gold Distinction). Depending on how the scores fall, judges can challenge a score, and many prints are subject to passionate discussion and are re-scored, resulting in an award. At the end of judging for each category, the top three aggregate scores over 320 points become finalists for the category. Their top four prints are then judged as a portfolio in a separate process (also five judges, but privately), and the winner of the category is determined. At the end of all the print and category judging, there are further awards chosen for Emerging Photographer, Highest Scoring Print, and the biggest one of all: Professional Photographer of the Year. You have to be a category winner to be eligible for Professional Photographer of the Year.
As for sitting in the judge’s seat, I needn’t have been so scared, because it was a bloody brilliant experience, and really I hope I’m asked to do it again in the future. I cherished every single moment of the entire process from individual print judging, to the behind-closed-doors discussion and voting of category winners. It was such a privilege to contribute to my industry in this way!!!
And our results were…
In the Family Category for NSW, Jeremy received 5 Silvers and 1 Silver Distinction. For ACT, I received 3 Silvers, 2 Silver Distinctions and my first ever Gold award. In the Wedding Category for NSW, Jeremy received 3 Silvers. And in the Illustrative Category for ACT, I received 2 Silvers and a Gold Distinction. It was pretty freaking amazing!!! Ā We were shocked, thrilled and over-the-moon happy that all our hard work had paid off so spectacularly. For me personally, it felt like I’d finally cleared a hurdle I’ve been trying to get over for the past 5 years, and that is a beyond-words feeling of satisfaction.
The NSW Awards Presentation Night was held on Tuesday night, and we went along to support our fellow photographers and cheer on all the category winners. Because Jeremy is still a NSW member of the AIPP (the truth is that he’s holding off switching to ACT because of the crazy competition that the ACT has the reputation for!!!) he found out that night that he was a finalist for NSW Wedding Photographer of the Year!!! Our close friend Lara was a finalist for Emerging Photographer of the Year, and we were absolutely thrilled for our friend Jen Stocks who took out NSW Professional Photographer of the Year, after winning the Portrait Category and Highest Scoring Print.
Jeremy’s loot:
The ACT Awards Presentation Night was held in Canberra on Wednesday night, but we couldn’t attend as we were guests (an exciting rarity!) at the wedding of a pretty fabulous pair of photographers. However, we were joined in absence by fellow Canberran friends Dan and Kelly, and shared a very funny 10 minutes or so standing on the street with my phone, straining to hear the announcements going on in Canberra (all the while being ‘shooshed’ by our beautiful Robyn because we were being too rowdy: apparently we were coming through loud and clear on their end, but we couldn’t hear a thing on ours!). And so, as a result of my prints on Sunday and Monday, I was awarded ACT Family Photographer of the Year, and the Highest Scoring Print award, as well as being a Finalist for Illustrative Photographer of the Year. This is by far the most exciting and wonderful achievement in not only my photography career, but in my entire working life!!! I couldn’t be more happy and proud of myself, but most of all I’m just so glad to have received reassurance of the success and satisfaction that comes from following your heart in all things.
My loot:
Massive thanks for all of this go to some very special clients of mine who featured in the 6 images I entered into the Family Category; Jon & Chelsi and their gorgeous blended family who’s trust in my crazy spur of the moment idea brought about a beautiful piece of art that is hanging in their home (and our client viewing room too) and won me my first ever Gold Award; the Townsends, Patricia & Luiz, Lauren & Evan, Alex & Iain, and the Holdens. To win this category makes all my hard work worth it. Up until this year when Jeremy joined me, everything I’ve done in my business I’ve done on my own. I’ve had some really hard times in the process, times when I questioned whether I should continue, times where I feared the future a little too much, times when I doubted my own ability. I’m sure I’ll have more of these times, because it seems to be the way of creative business owners and artists in general, but this, right now, is exactly what I’ve been striving for, and it’s come at the perfect time for me, personally and professionally.
The print that won me ACT Highest Scoring Print was a fine art piece that I worked on over several days, just before entries closed. It depicts a very dear friend of mine, and I see it as a celebration of her and the connection we have. The creation of this image was painstaking, but really enjoyable, a complete departure from my daily work, but something that is an undeniable part of my inner artist. I cannot even begin to explain the feeling I had when I realised that my work had been recognised, understood and awarded at such a high level. Art and the artistic process can be so very subjective, especially when it holds such deep personal significance. I am so grateful to my dear friend for trusting me to create this piece of work.
I also want to give thanks to the AIPP, and the awesome people working behind the scenes who create these opportunities for us and for the betterment of the photography industry in Australia. There’s a lot of whinging that goes on about the AIPP, and to be honest, I think it’s a bit similar to Canberra-bashing: unless you’ve experienced the goods that come, you really shouldn’t judge. The AIPP isn’t just about the awards process and backslapping, it’s about striving for excellence, and contributing to the industry. It’s a give-take thing: the more you put into it, the more you gain. I love what they do, and am ever so grateful for the amazing experiences I’ve had since becoming a member, and I bloody love this industry and the people in it, hard.
And finally, I couldn’t have done any of this without my amazing partner Jeremy. He pushed me to create that piece of personal work (and I stupidly argued and said I didn’t have time and wasn’t in the right frame of mind), he sat by my side throughout all of our award preparation, helped me through my moments of stress and panic, and did all my printing for me. And he also took this very indulgent photo of me, since I missed out on having one at the Awards Presentation Night.
Katie xo
