Ok, so it’s likely that you were hoping this post was about something other than photographic exhibitions? Sorry, it’s not about the arguably (but only arguably!) more interesting subject of baring all, but firmly about the concept of showing off your photos in an exhibition, but is there more to it than a few not very interesting photos on a rarely visited public library wall?

As you may have seen over on my bio page I was introduced into photography by my father and I’ve long known and heard about is exploits in local, national and even international photography exhibitions, but it’s only recently that I’ve been becoming more involved myself. Now it’s fair to say that most of us are unlikely to have a full photographic exhibition at MOMA or the Tate Modern, but there are some more realistic targets out there, as I’ve been finding out!

There are plenty of armature and professional photographic bodies and federations in existence (The Royal Photographic Society (RPS), Fédération Internationale de l’Art Photographique (FIAP), New York Press Photographers Association (NYPPA) to name three of the hundreds out there), but the one I’ve been paying most attention to recently it the [Photographic Society of America] (PSA). The PSA is armature run international society, obviously based out of the USA. The crux of their ‘mission’ is to bring people together, help them better their photography, have fun and ultimately gain recognition for their achievements in photography.

The PSA run an annual exhibition, which is open to anyone. The exhibition is split into various photographic genres and every picture is judged and marked. Very roughly the best 20% of entries are accepted into the exhibition and the very cream of the crop receive an award. However, the PSA’s influence extends much further than a single annual exhibition, because they provide accreditation to other exhibitions all over the World. This means that smaller clubs/groups etc can apply to have their exhibitions accredited and as a result there are stacks of exhibitions all year round to enter and pit yourself against your peers. Furthermore the PSA run a recognition scheme based around the number of pictures you have had accepted into accredited international exhibitions. Each collection of acceptances earns you a star-award in your chosen genre and multiple star-awards add-up to larger overall awards.

I can imagine some people reading this and thinking ‘what’s the point’? I think the answer to that is simple ‘some people like this sort of thing and some don’t’. Some people are happy taking pictures for themselves alone, which is no more or less valid. For me the anticipation of seeing whether your pictures have made the ‘cut’ and the on-going focus that it provides is great. Whether you enter the exhibitions or not the PSA is a great organisation and I’d encourage all (armature particularly) photographers to join and see where it leads you; it’s cheap, provides you a monthly magazine, which though basic is very informative and provides access to many learning resources to improve your photography.