Entering competitions is a great way to get your work shown by professionals in the photographic field. The arts is a very competitive world with everyone striving to be the best. However, this means that it is important that you market yourself well in order to make your work stand out from others. Even if you do not win the competition you entered, it does not mean you have not succeeded. The judges on some of the panels can be well known photographers, curators etc that have looked at your work when judging. This can lead to great recognition in the future.
A few weeks ago I entered the Palm* photo prize 2020. This is set up for new generation photographers and is exhibition based. There were 4 prizes to win including First prize, Second prize, People’s choice award and People’s choice Instagram Award. On the judge panel were some well known names such as Karen McQuaid, senior curator of the Photographer’s Gallery, Sarah Allen, assistant curator at Tate Modern and Alastair McKimm, editor-in-chief of iD. Although I was not successful in this competition, my work has been seen by those high up in the art world which is a success in itself. It means my work is getting seen by professionals in the field.
I am currently in the process of entering the South West graduate prize 2020. This is a well known photographic prize for the South West of England which previous graduates from Bath Spa University have been successful in winning and having their work shown at a collective exhibition. This is another great opportunity to get my work seen by other professionals within the industry. I will be submitting my current work that I have produced over the course of the lockdown period, as I feel it is a strong project to show.