On the Nature of Judging: For Competition and Marketing

Print competitions are tremendous sources of marketing for my business. PPW/PPA merited images, industry degrees, awards and trophies generate interest and calls for service. However, it took me a while to get that competition is about marketing rather than receiving kudos. In fact, it was a recent PPW conversation that brought clarity of focus to a competition/marketing strategy. And that strategy, I came to realize, lies within the credibility of the judging process, and within the few seconds that images are judged.

I’m not a PPA judge, but I have graduate-level training in the judgment of taste. Evaluating, critiquing, and coaching images for improvement is the core of my business. And, for what it’s worth, I am eight for eight at PPA International Print Competition.

First off, to give credibility to the judging process means I have to give credibility to the scores — all of the scores. Good scores lose credibility if the bad scores are rejected or explained away, or by incessant complaining about the judges. Because really, why should a client respect industry recognition if I don’t have respect for it? Scoring can be personal and disappointing, but one has to get past it in order to move forward. 

Second, I have a problem if I’m saying “they didn’t get the image,” or “they didn’t understand it.” I’ll challenge a lone opinion any day of the week, but I’m not going to challenge a panel of people. People who I know are professionally trained and continually evaluated. It’s a simple message: if they didn’t get my image, then I didn’t present clear and strong content.

Judging is communal in that the judges are selected from our peers based on their knowledge and experience. Low scores are interpreted as “we don’t have taste,” or to use the vernacular, “we’re not cool.” It’s a bitter pill, and all of us have felt the sting of disappointment. However, no one really remembers the low scores, and no one really cares. I might whine to a friend, but that’s it and then I’ll move on. To complain publicly is to be viewed as a victim, and to complain on social media is to tell your clients that your not good and that your not cool. Broadcasting hurt feelings is a destructive marketing plan, and something exceedingly painful to watch when others do it. So, feel the sting and get past it… no big deal.

Two insights helped me with competition. The first is that competition is just a demonstration of skill. It’s not a grand opus reflective of who I am, but a showing of skill relative to industry standards and expectations. Demonstration of skill comes from strong design elements, strong technical skills, and craft in composition. Industry standards are those techniques that have thrived and survived the test of time. They are tried and true. In other words, my focus needs to be on strengthening design elements relative to what we know works. I can waste time complaining about things I can’t control, or I can focus to improve my strategy for the next time round. The choice is ours.

Impact is everything is the second insight, and all determinations, good or bad, come from that first impression. PPA lists impact as the first of the 12 elements of a good image and this is truly unfortunate. It is not an element of an image, but the entire reason for image. The flowchart shows how I view impact and its contributing factors. With impact, one has to fully experience the whole subject before they can identify how the parts contribute to it. This is supported Aristotle, Plotinus, Kant, and Heidegger, just to name a few. If one is judging an apple pie, then they have to take a bite of it before they can determine how the ingredients were mixed and how they contribute to the whole. The same applies to the visual world. We absolutely have to feel that first impression before we can identify how the design elements work to establish it. And herein lies the insight.

I’m selecting images for competition that 1) have a strong impact, 2) have easily identifiable design elements, and 3) clearly reflect industry standards and expectations. Judges spend seconds to determine impact and a score. So, I want the judges to feel my image, easily spot the design elements, and then situate them against expectations of good photography. The easier it is for a judge to make these determinations, then the easier it is for them to support and justify a favorable score. This is the key and this is what I want.

In addition, I’m selecting images that reflect my business. This year’s images are based on design elements, story telling through composition, night photography, and technical lighting. These fit directly with my classes that encompass creativity, story telling, and advanced composition and lighting. I also want merited images specific to the technical areas of PPA’s Certified Professional Photographer designation, as photographers are coming to me specifically for CPP help. Meriting with business intent establishes instant credibility in whatever field you’re pursuing.

This is my third year, and it’s a bit arrogant to step into the role as an expert in judging and competitions. However, articles on the dynamics of judging are few and far between. I wrote that judging is communal and therein lies an interesting concept. It goes like this: the individual is always right about their opinion and judgment, because they are always right about how they feel about a subject. A judgment is always wrong, because one judgment does not fit the experiences of everyone who sees it. However, we value the judges because they understand the nuances of photography and they collectively “ought to know” what is true excellence in photography. Sure, from time to time there’s that one judge we might wonder about, but really, PPW/PPA judges do a great job of getting it right, and it’s that standard that gives credibility to our industry.

I wrote this article from the first person because I can only attest to what I’ve learned and what works for me. I don’t know what works for everyone, and I don’t want to claim that I do, but I bet there are parts of this article that resonate with you and hopefully they will open up some new insights.

 I’d like to thank Robert Behm, Rich Breshears, Deke Cloyd, Bryan Welsh and Lisa Dillon. Few things in photography are done in a void, and all of you have helped shape my approach.

Mike Busby

Mike Busby's School of photography

Busbywc.com