IPC 2013: “Be Somebody’s Hero”

While a lot of you are still on pins and needles, awaiting your International Photographic Competition (IPC) results, I am tucked firmly in a blanket of post-IPC glow. I’m sure the spark will be revved up again later today when the official results are posted, but for now I am happy to float in warm fuzziness.

Yet, my glow is only partially because of the results.

While  numerous judges were tucked in dark classrooms down the hallways of Gwinnett Technical College, judging the fate of more than 5,000 images, I was in a classroom with 37 other students, learning how to become one of those judges.

Attending the PPA Judges’ Workshop has been a goal for quite awhile. I had high expectations for the class. I was sure I was going to learn all of the “secrets” and “unwritten rules” about print competition.

And instead, I learned a lesson in humanity. And then another. And another.

Along with over 40 judges, multiple PPA staff and the Gwinnett Tech student volunteers, over 100 people filled the classroom on the first day. We gathered on Sunday afternoon, the day before judging, to do a variety of welcome/orientation-type activities. Within the first five minutes I was taking notes. Unusual for me for a “welcome” meeting, but this one was a bit different. And it set the tone for the week.

Repeatedly throughout the week, the constant message was one of professionalism and kindness. One of  our instructors, Dave Huntsman, constantly cautioned us not to “crush someone’s spirit”  and advised us to formulate the words that came out of our mouths as if the image in front of us was the best image that maker had ever created and that they were seated behind us in the judging room and could hear what we said.

The focus of our training was not about flaunting our knowledge and expertise, deciding absolutes and arguing amongst the panel, it was a cohesive group review and discussion of the image in front of us, with every attempt to be as fair to the maker as possible.

Time and time again during the week, we were stopped when a “not quite so nice” word or phrase came out of our mouths during a challenge. I remember my own face turning red in embarrassment a few times as I struggled with the right words to say. We were consistently and firmly directed towards more appropriate, kinder and gentler ways to give input on the images in front of us.

During the course of the week, judges were rotated through a variety of judging rooms as well as the critique room. As part of my training, I was required to spend some time in the critique room. As Nancy Emmerich, PEC Vice-Chair had instructed at the beginning of the week, the judges recorded critiques following the guidelines she had reviewed in “The 4 Elements of a Good Critique-er” . The first three were no-brainers:”Be Kind”, “Be Encouraging”, “Be Honest”. But the zinger was in #4:  “Be Somebody’s Hero.”  In the critique room was where I saw heroes in action. For hours each day, judges recorded critique after critique, leaving their own egos outside the door to concentrate on the works submitted from various parts of the world by makers of all skill levels.

One such hero was Richard Sturdevant. Now, that name probably rings a bell with a large number of you. You gotta be about half-living in a cave to not know who he is. I had not met him before, but had passed a few comments back and forth on Facebook with him as many of us do without actually knowing those we talk to. I did meet him, officially, on the first day we gathered; we shook hands, said a few nice words and parted ways.

Now, one would think that I’m at the point where I no longer have stars in my eyes when meeting certain people, but that just isn’t true. What a lot of people fail to realize is that I am a newbie. I opened my studio less than 4 years ago and am only in the 4th year of competing. I’m still at the point where I’m not quite sure what I’m doing and competition is out of my comfort zone. I’m about struck dumb in the presence of Warren Motts & Helen Yancy, and Gabriel Alonso seems to inspire total idiotic compliments to fall from my tongue. “I am not worthy” is my mantra during these times…

But Richard didn’t know that. And later in the week when he saw me and enveloped me in a bear hug as congratulations on an image that was chosen for the Loan Collection, and expanded on the critique he had just recorded for me, he became a hero. He put aside his own expertise and bias to constructively critique an image of mine and left me feeling as if it was the best work I had ever created. It brought tears to my eyes. It wasn’t about him, it was about me. And I began to understand my role as a future judge.

Wow. Just wow.

I just saw in action all the instruction I had been hearing in class all week. I began to look and listen in a whole new manner.

And then came the last day of class. By now, I was brain dead, trying to stuff additional pieces of information into my head and within the margins of my notebook. I was sitting in the mock digital judging while instructor Rick Avalos fine-tuned our skills, when he suddenly went into role-playing mode. He had warned us that he would do this, so at first I giggled, but then I began to feel the chill…

He asked a juror-in-training if she could give him any guidance on the image we just judged. He explained his thought process behind the image and pushed her to tell him what would increase his score to merit level. The wavering in his voice as he explained how well his work was received in his community revealed the fact that he was hurt by the score his image had received. His voice and eyes were begging for kindness.

Cue the time travel machine….

He was me, the date was November-something 2009 and I was standing by someone critiquing an image from my very first competition. I believe the image received a 74 or so and I was asking for input. It is important to note that one arm held a trophy that I earned from a different image. By the end of the critique I was angry and hurt. And when I returned to my convention hotel room I was crying. My trophy image was long forgotten and the “failure” of the 74 settled in.

Suddenly the pain of that critique was forefront in my mind; Rick’s voice and words as he struggled to understand his score pulled a sadness from my heart that I never want to experience again  – or  be the cause of to someone else.

BAM!

For a few minutes I just sat in my seat and thought “wow!” It was one of those moments in life when things become clear, the light bulb pops on and confetti rains down from some invisible ticker-tape parade. I was stunned into silence (not an easy feat as those who know me will attest!).

A few minutes later, the class ended and we all headed out to various rental cars and airport shuttles. I sat in the Atlanta airport for several hours, just thinking. And four days later, I’m still thinking.

The PPA Judges’ Workshop was the best investment of education dollars, hands down. Even if I never become a judge, I have learned some of the most important lessons in my life.

I didn’t only learn how to judge, I learned how to be a hero.

Thank you, PPA.