Contests Schmontests: a few thoughts
It’s that time of year again… AKA photo contest time. I wrote this post 5 years ago after judging POYi for the first time, and housed it on a blog I’ve long-since scrubbed clean. But figured it was worth reposting now since the same conversations are happening now about the winning images.
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Judging POYi is such a unique experience that I wanted to share some thoughts and insights with you. From February 2-6, 2015, AP Photo Editor Jacqueline Larma, South African photojournalist (and last year’s 2nd place POY portfolio winner) James Oatway, WIRED Magazine Director of Photography Patrick Witty and I looked at about 10,770 unique images at the University of Missouri’s 72nd annual POYi competition.
We were judging the News Division — with categories ranging from Feature and Portrait to Human Conflict and Issue Reporting to Portfolio of the Year.
It was an incredible honor to look through the best pictures of the year to determine the VERY best. For me, the goal going into the week was not to not only recognize a very high level of work done this year, and give it a second life, but also to help establish the benchmark for the next year’s work. The magnitude of that task weighed heavily. And I guarantee you, it wasn't taken lightly.
One thing we kept returning to as a judging team was that, above all, this is a photojournalism competition. At its most basic level, the photography has to be there. The quality of the pictures is paramount.
We removed several really good pictures from the competition because of carelessness on the photographer’s part (or sometimes on the part of the entry coordinator — yes some publications actually still have people that enter contests for their staff — which amazes me). Small things like a dirty sensor, poor toning, low res images and crops that left lines or borders on the edges were difficult to get past. This contest is for Pictures of the Year. Before you enter, take a second to ensure there’s nothing detracting from your image.
On a higher plane, come the intangibles. What is this picture saying? Is it truthful? Does the photographer have a voice and a vision, are they moving photography forward with their image? It’s not enough to simply show up (f8 and be there), point, and shoot. When everyone with a camera phone fancies themselves a photographer, we have to set ourselves apart by approaching situations skillfully — photography is, after all, a craft.
Moments always weigh heaviest for me. But there are other elements like mood, composition, light, and what the photographer is trying to say, that we took into account as well. It’s not enough to show up, you have to bring something to the image as well.
That said, judging is a very subjective process. Put different judges on any year's contest jury, and the winners might be different. I think the phrase “best” isn’t necessarily a qualitative term, it’s a quantitative one. A majority of the judges have to agree that it's the best, not all...
We asked ourselves: which pictures resonate with us…. four people from totally different and diverse backgrounds. One thing that was obvious is that when you respect what the other judges bring to the table, it’s an incredibly fascinating process to go through. We talked about the pictures, a lot. You have to be able to articulate why something is good, not just that it is.
But perhaps the biggest thing I learned from this process is that good judging is about compromise and consensus. It’s not a perfect process, no contest is, but when done right... it’s incredibly fair. Ultimately, the other three judges and I had the utmost respect for the work we were looking at, and wanted the best of the best to be recognized.
I say that because I got text messages, emails and phone calls after judging was over asking why a certain story didn’t win, or a certain issue not rise up and be recognized. And the bottom line is this: it's hard to second-guess judging because it doesn't come down to one person's opinion... it comes down to a collective vote by just a handful of people that you've put your trust into.
I'll also say this: you can only judge the work that’s there against other work that’s there. I know that there was some powerful work done in 2014 that wasn’t entered. I know that we saw better pictures of certain events or moments on the wires or newspapers, but that work wasn’t entered. You can’t judge a best of anything contest against the ideal stuck in your head — that’s not fair. You have to weigh the strengths and weaknesses of what’s on the screen in front of you — the end. (On a side note: I hate contests that refuse to award a 1st place, and just give a 2nd and 3rd... It's a contest of, the year, you judge what's there. Because that's the best of what you've got. Period.)
Issue Reporting story was, in my mind, one of the strongest categories this year. And it was my favorite to judge. It shows how deeply people are digging in their own backyards to tell important stories.
Brad Vest’s look at the residents of a Memphis Housing project took us inside this place, put a face on the people there, had heart, and a beautiful aesthetic. The pacing and editing of it really felt like every picture pushed the narrative forward a little bit more, adding something to the story. Lisa Krantz’s story on obesity took us inside the life of San Antonio’s Hector Garcia. It had intimacy and depth. It told an important story about a powerful issue and did so with beauty and dignity for the subject. And notice how both of those photographers also had winning portfolios, because those issues, those in-depth stories, those important and incredible moments, carried them through.
The Staten Island Ferry Portrait Series that placed second resonated with me for the same reason: it’s such a good reminder that you don’t always have to go far or seek out the exotic to make interesting and compelling images.
Feature Picture Story was (again, in my mind, I’m not speaking for the other judges here) one of the weakest categories. It felt like a dumping ground for event coverage, for collections of images photographers were lumping together, for fluff that lacked both substance and style. Without purpose, 12 pretty photos from the State Fair do not a picture story make. Make those pretty images, but then ask yourself what you’re trying to say about this place, these people, this thing… AND FIND A WAY TO SAY IT. The feature stories that won, did so deservingly — especially the first place winner which is a quiet, yet almost lyrical way of telling a story. Different, yet emotive. Powerful, yet thoughtful. But the drop off was steep after the ones that placed.
Before we began judging the Newspaper Portfolio round, contest coordinator Rick Shaw reminded us that there’s no such thing as a perfect portfolio. And he’s right. Although some portfolios came close, ultimately, picking a winner came down to weighing the strengths and weaknesses of a body of work. For me, stories held more weight in the portfolio, because that’s really when you get to see a photographer’s strengths: how they work through a story, how they edit it, how their ideas translate into moments. And then how do the singles back this up?
It helps to look at things in a grid form, all together in a contact sheet, to see how things not only look, but feel, as a group. Are there any clunkers that are bringing it down? Is there a frame there that because of aesthetic or approach feels like it was shot by a different photographer? Are you putting a weak sports or spot news photo into your portfolio to fill a hole or is it really necessary and does it add to the work? It’s definitely given me a lot to think about when assembling my own portfolio for future contests.
The state of the newspaper industry is lousy right now. With layoffs and buyouts, losing experience and expertise hurts. I saw that come through in the editing time-and-time again. There were stories and portfolios that were too long, redundant, or full of too many pointless unnecessary photos. Those we eliminated. It sucks thinking, this is a great photographer… if only they had a good editor.
But the winners give me some hope for the industry. There’s no question that there’s still some amazing work out there by photographers who are findings ways to get it done. There are brave photographers willing to risk their lives to make images that show us the suffering, brutality and inhumanity of conflict. There are inspiring and innovative photographers who are finding new and different ways to make images. And there are concerned photographers digging deeper into their own communities to shed a light on the darkness.
Contests aren’t perfect. And entering them isn’t either. Just because a set of judges doesn’t pick an image doesn’t mean it’s bad. It just means it didn’t resonate with those judges in that place on that day.
And if you win something and have a photo that places, congratulations. It’s a feather in your cap, a pat on the back and hopefully some validation to take back to your bosses to remind them why we need the time and space to do what we do.
The opportunity to see how your own work stands up to the work that’s being chosen is a learning experience. And if your work’s not quite there this year, you know where the bar has been set. Hopefully it’s a motivator more than a deterrent. More than anything though, what I hope people get out of contests is the conversations they spark. The debates about photos are healthy, as long as they’re constructive.
And with all that said: the most important thing to remember is judging is incredibly subjective and it depends on a lot of factors coming together and aligning perfectly — one of the biggest being luck.
