Submissions called for 59th Annual International Competition and Exhibition of Photography

Friday, 15 August 2014 01:38 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

The Photographic Society of Sri Lanka (PSSL) announced the 59th Annual Inte-rnational Competition and Exhibition of Photography which will be held from 22-24 November at the Lionel Wendt. The society’s rich history is traced back to the year 1906 when the Amateur Photographic Society of Ceylon was formed by Henry Lorenz Wendt, the father of Lionel Wendt - lawyer, artist, pianist and photographer, the Society has continued to be at the pinnacle of Photographic activities in Sri Lanka throughout. The Society has conducted the Annual Competition and Exhibition of Photography in Sri Lanka since 1934. Later the competition and exhibition was upgraded to an Annual International Competition and Exhibition in 1954 and is being conducted without a break since. Last year the 58th PSSL International Competition and Exhibition was conducted in a much broader scale with the patronages of International Federation of Photographic Art (FIAP), Photographic Society of America (PSA) and United Photographers International (UPI), and conducted on a fully digital web enabled platform for entry, submission, payment and judging. The competition was conducted under three main categories of Open Colour, Open Monochrome and Nature sections open to photographers worldwide. Nearly 400 participants from 50 countries submitted nearly 3000 images for the competition. This was the highest ever participation and the entries received at an international photographic competition held in Sri Lanka to-date. The quality of images was of extremely high standard making judging an unenviable task to select the final 215 images. The selected and winning entries were displayed at the Exhibition held from 22-24 November at the Lionel Wendt Art Gallery, and a full colour catalogue with all the selected images was distributed to all entrants and sponsors. This year, the event will be held in much grandeur scale with Photographic Society of Singapore President Goh Kim Hui leading the eminent panel of judges with the patronages of four international bodies namely FIAP, PSA, UPI and the Royal Photographic Society of UK (RPS). This is the first time the RPS will be patronising the event and the PSSL is honoured to have them on board. A total of more than 70 medals and ribbons will be awarded to winning entries which will include FIAP, PSA, RPS, UPI and PSSL Gold, Silver and Bronze Medals as well as honourable mention Certificates. Local entrants will also be eligible for valuable prizes and gifts. Entries for the contest can be submitted via www.pssl.lk commencing from 15 August along with the entry fees and will close on 24 October. Payments can be done through the Sampath electronic gateway or through PayPal.