The Judging Challenge

One of the things I love about my chosen career is the constantly evolving challenge with so many potential paths of learning. One of my more recent challenges has been learning how to judge the work of other photographers in a competition setting.

In particular, I want to talk about the open forum that is judging the NZIPP Iris Awards. These awards are the top competition in New Zealand for professional photographers, so being selected as a judge is very much an honour and a privilege. Accordingly, I take my responsibilities pretty seriously!

Let me give you a little background on judging this competition. Amongst other things, judges are looking for communication, creativity, originality, and camera technique in photographic images. At the Iris Awards, images are judged in front of a live audience by a panel of judges who are selected based on their experience, knowledge, expertise, and ability to articulate their thoughts. Judges independently assess entries, and a debate occurs when one or more judges have scored outside of the initial average range. During the debate, judges present their opinions on the entry. Following the debate, the entry is re-scored, from which the final score is attained. To round things off, there is also a process for deciding category winners and the ultimate Photographer of the Year prize.

Very important things to note are that all images are judged anonymously. Another important aspect is that a judge will never judge their own work and must abstain from judging other work they know intimately. This means the competition can attract both the best judges and the best work.

One of my favourite aspects is that every entry receives feedback from the judges. It can be really challenging but of crucial importance to offer feedback for images in lower scoring ranges. We need to encourage photographers to continue their work and go through the really constructive process of entering awards. Our goal with these discussions is to provide educational, considered and informed feedback. I know how it feels to have my own work judged, so I hope that gives me some degree of empathy too.

As I said before, this is all a fairly serious business. To help judges, the NZIPP has programs for judge training. I also try and prepare myself by feeding my brain with the sort of language I will need to convey my feelings about images. Immersing myself in the world of art and photography helps too - it is no great hardship to visit galleries, talk to artists, and buy books. Watching old judging is a great resource too. Iris judging is all recorded and can be watched on YouTube - listening to myself can be a cringy but educational experience.

Whilst it is up to entrant photographers to communicate their big idea in their images, they are also depending on judges to bring their knowledge and visual literacy to the table to interpret even the most challenging and abstract pieces. Saying “I love this photo” (even if you really do) just doesn’t cut it. You need to speak about an image with understanding, offer constructive critique, and suggestions for improvement. All of this is “live” and with only a short period of time to think about what you may say.  As the veteran of several head injuries, this is a challenge. I resort to making quick notes to clarify my thinking and contemplate how good this process is to grow my brain power.

I am just a beginner in this next phase of my photography career. But this is a team sport and I get to sit alongside some of the best photographers and judges in this part of the world and learn.  We are a true team feeding off each other to offer the best judging and feedback. For me, this is not an ego trip or putting myself out there as being a cut above the rest. It is about putting my own work aside for a bit and really offering something of myself to other photographers to help them on their own journeys, no matter how far down the path they may be. In fact, learning to be a judge has been the most important piece of personal and professional development that I have done in recent years.

To wrap it all up, there is nothing better than meeting fellow judges every year to be true geeks about the science and art of photography, as well as handing out heaps of hugs!

(Image - Janyne Judging at the 2022 NZIPP Iris Awards.  Credit - Dan Childs/NZIPP 2022)