2nd Place Environmental Portrait 2021: Karen Waller "Ern, Cat and Verandah"
Scores For Every Entry
We have assembled a highly qualified panel of judges with a diverse range of experience to view and score the Top 101 Portrait photographs of the year. The judging process begins with each judge giving your entry a score out of 100. There are three judges for each entry, so a total score out of 300, divided by 3 to get a percentage score. That's pretty straightforward!
How do the judges decide on the score? That's up to them, but within each category, all three judges score all the entries to ensure a level of consistency. And we can have a different panel of judges for each category to ensure the entries are reviewed with empathy.
You are able to enter more than one photograph of the same subject, so in this way you can get feedback from the judges as to which version they like the best. However, be aware that we want 101 different portrait photographs in the book, so while you’re entitled to enter similar images, only one may be selected for publication if they were to both get into the initial Top 101. Similarly, for the Top 101 any one photographer can only be represented by a maximum of two photographs.
To decide the category prizes, the top 10 scores in each category will be submitted to the judges a second time. The idea behind this approach is based on years of experience judging competitions and awards. When a judge gives your photograph an initial score, your photograph is not being compared against other entries, but against a 'standard' the judge has in mind. This is exactly what we want to happen when giving an entry a score. However, when it comes to handing our first, second and third places, suddenly the entries are being compared against each other and, when the images are presented side by side, the original scores do not always reflect how the judges feel. This is why we're taking the highest 10 scores from each category and giving the judges the opportunity to review the entries comparatively.
And for the main prize, the International Portrait Photographer of the Year?
To determine the International Portrait Photographer of the Year, the 10 Portfolio Entries with the highest aggregate will be judged separately. A Portfolio Entry comprises an Entrant’s highest scoring four Entries, as long as one of those Entries is in the Top 101. The entries can be in any category - e.g. all in one category, or three in one category and one in another, etc.
If the four highest scoring Entries for an Entrant include two or more photographs that are very similar, as determined by the organisers, the highest scoring entry will be used and the other entry(s) excluded. This may result in the Entrant's portfolio no longer being in the top 10, depending on the scores for his/her other entries.
The judges will then vote for the Portfolio Entry that best represents the International Portrait Photographer of the Year Award. This will be a process of consultation and discussion.
