A look at the judging process

With new management at BWPA for the 2023 competition comes an entirely new competition system. If you’ve entered the competition in the past, you will likely notice the difference from the moment you register to enter.

The new system will make it faster and easier to submit your images to BWPA. But it also affects the judging process too, alongside some changes in how we will operate the different rounds.

Let’s take a look at how the BWPA competition will be judged.

It’s all anonymous

One of the most important parts of the judging process is that it is strictly anonymous. This is maintained throughout the entire judging process until the winners have been confirmed. There is no way that a judge can find out the names of photographers from BWPA before the winners are decided.

With this in mind, there are a number of rounds that images will have to pass through:

Round 1

The first round of judging will take place soon after the competition has closed to entries. In this round, we do a first pass through all the entries to ensure things like rule compliance and ethical considerations have been adhered to.

Round 2

In the second round, the judging panel is able to choose which images they would like to see high resolution files from. This is where we will request original raw files alongside the high resolution JPEGs, in order to prove authenticity of an image.

It is at this stage where you may be asked to provide further evidence of the circumstances around your image, should we have questions as to its authenticity or method of shooting. Should an original raw file show that an image does not adhere to the rules, then that entry will be disqualified at this stage.

Round 3

This is the final round of judging. So if your image has been requested for high resolution files, then you are officially a BWPA finalist!

In this round, each judge will choose their favourite images from each category and they will be scored accordingly.

Confirming the winners

Before we confirm the winning images, we will take a final look at the prospective winners to ensure that all guidelines and rules are adhered to. It is at this stage that we might contact experts in relevant industries to verify behaviours, ethics, or other things which we may query.

Once all that is done, the winners are officially announced at an awards ceremony in March. Good luck!