If you compete in PPA photographic competitions on a district level, and if your image scores an 80 or above, it earns a “Seal of Approval.”
Oooohhh, seal of approval, that sounds so fancy.
I have to admit, when I started in print competition, I couldn’t wait to get a peek at one of those seals of approval. I was sorely disappointed in the fact that it was just a sticker. Here, have a look:
I do have to stay that things started looking a bit more impressive on the front of the image, as each image that scores above an 80 also gets a gold corner applied to it for the image exhibit:
So, what exactly does this mean?
It means, that when you send your sealed image into the very next International Photographic Competition, that the seal will automatically convert to a merit for that image and it will not have to be re-judged for inclusion into the general collection. It will still go through the Loan Collection judging, but you are guaranteed it will be included in the general collection and will receive a merit.
You can’t wait a year and send it in next year, you have to send it in this year, or the seal is no longer valid.
So, in the grand scheme of things, what is next?
Well, if you got 4 seals at your district competition, you’re good to go. Register for IPC and forward those images on. Last year, the registration process had all your information already in place and even had notifications if an image had sealed. Just register, pay and complete your entry and wait for August. Ha ha!
If you didn’t get all 4 seals, you can still choose to forward the entries that didn’t seal or you can replace them with new images that you think would have a better chance of meriting at IPC than the ones you sent to District.
Most people I talk to have a case of combined sealed and non-sealed images, so almost everyone I know is preparing an alternate image or two. Or three.
Now, in some circumstances, even if you sealed an image, you may elect to “break the seal” and substitute another image, instead. We’ll talk about that in an upcoming article as that is something I am contemplating doing myself.
The main thing to remember is that a seal of approval may only be earned at a district level competition. Some folks will say they got a merit – but that’s just a common misuse of the term and what they really mean (or should mean) is that they got a seal. So, all of you seal-earners out there – prep your case and send it on, registration is open for IPC!