Scandals and Difficulties in Photography Competitions

In my post What is a good photograph? I suggested submitting photos to photography contests as one way to have your work evaluated by professionals.

The point is that most photography contests are economic businesses. Since a contest’s total income usually exceeds the total value of its prizes, many contests are, first and foremost, a source of profit for their owners. They should therefore be approached with some suspicion. Still, a competition’s value is ultimately measured by its credibility: the quality of the photographs submitted—which is almost always very high in today’s world of accessible cameras and endless photographic opportunities—and the quality of its curators and judges.

Speaking of caution, I recently came across fascinating information about alleged fraud involving a network of photo contests reportedly led by an enigmatic man named Martin Stavars, whose identity is not entirely clear. He is said to be connected to several contest websites, including International Photography of the Year, Monochrome Awards, ND Awards, Fine Art Photography Awards, and Monovisions Photography Awards. That fact alone can feel uncomfortable—although, as we will see, it is not always a problem.

Concern arose when some judges in these competitions publicly claimed they had been listed as judges, yet did not see a single photograph from the competition until after the winners were announced. This raised the suspicion that Stavars himself chose the winners rather than the referees (photographers or curators), some of whom are highly regarded professionals.

I will not go into the details. Those who are interested can find them on the PetaPixel, PDN, and DPReview websites. All are worth reading.

I came across this information while considering entering the ND Awards, but something about it seemed unreliable to me. I looked a little deeper and found that my caution was justified. At the same time, I discovered that another network of photography contests that also appears to be managed by a single person, reliable and highly regarded in the photography world.

The owner of these contest websites is Hossein Farmani, born in Tehran and living in the United States. He studied photography and cinematography, worked in advertising, and over time invested heavily in voluntary activities to promote AIDS research and the art of photography. I recognized the connection between the contests he runs through their similar login and submission platforms. And yet, even though they fall under one umbrella, these competitions are legitimate: their judges are known (some very well known), and the person leading them is visible to the public.

While looking at the complexity—the business, the art, and the legitimacy—of photography contests, and above all about the motives of their founders, I learned only the other day that I had won another award in the most prestigious of the Farmani Group’s contests: the IPA—International Photography Awards. This time it was in the category Advertising / Self-Promotion.

This photograph leads this post. Its title is Through the Train’s Window, and I took it passing a Tel Aviv’s station. It is one of a series of many photos I took using slow shutter speed from trains in motion. I have uploaded additional photographs from this series to my Training gallery.