PSA

PSA Who’s Who in Photography 2021 - Congratulations to Ian Mitchell from Aberdeen who is the top exhibitor in Nature Division Prints for 2021. This is the second time that Ian has achieved the top place having done so in 2018. We would normally have hoped to take the opportunity of getting a photograph of Ian with his Certificate at an SPF event but this is not currently possible so the news section of our website was the next best thing!

His image Juvenile Pine Marten on Branch was also chosen for the front cover of the Who’s Who 2021 publication announcing the results for 2021.

A few of Ian's successful photos are shown below and above.

Want to know how you can join PSA and turn your Acceptances into Distinctions and get your name on the list of Who's Who in the future? Many Scottish photographers have entered exhibitions with PSA patronage over the years, partly by entering our own Scottish Salon, but also many of the exhibitions throughout the world with FIAP patronage also have PSA patronage.

PSA members have the opportunity to use their acceptances to apply for PSA Stars and Recognition of Photographic Achievement (ROPA). ROPA Distinctions include Qualified (QPSA), Proficiency (PPSA), Excellence (EPSA), Master (MPSA) and Grand Master (GMPSA). All exhibitors, who have acceptances in PSA-recognized exhibitions and meet the minimum standards of each division for inclusion, will be listed in the PSA’s Who’s Who in Photography publication—the only such listing in the world for over the past 50 years.

Join PSA at (click here)

The Scotland Newsletter was produced by Andrew Hayes on a quarterly basis MAR, JUN, SEPT and DEC and supplied to Scottish PSA Members. Some examples of past newsletters are given below. 

Scotland no longer has it's own Membership Director as noone from Scotland volunteered for the role. Andrew Hersom, who is the PSA Country Membership Director for England and Northern Ireland has also taken on Scotland as well in the interim. A copy of his July 2023 Newsletter is available from the area below.

PSA Photographic Distinctions are available to individuals who are members of PSA. Firstly, you must participate in salons with PSA recognition to gain acceptances. A full list of these qualifying Exhibitions (Salons) can be found on the PSA Website (click here) 

The PSA distinctions are called Recognition of Photographic Achievement Awards (ROPA) and they consist of QPSA, PPSA, EPSA, MPSA, MPSA2, GMPSA, GMPSA/b, GMPSA/s, GMPSA/g and GMPSA/p. You can apply for these awards sequentially or you can skip awards and apply for higher levels if you have sufficient qualifying acceptances. You have to be a member of PSA to apply for PSA distinctions. For these distinctions you can count only acceptances achieved in PSA recognised International exhibitions.

In the PSA system, the verification process and the application for a distinction are separated. Verification takes place through what PSA calls the Star Ratings system. Applications for Stars are checked by a Star Ratings Director using the PSA’s electronic database of exhibition acceptances. Each Star application requires a specific number of acceptances from a specified minimum number of different images. For example, you can apply for Star 1 with just 18 acceptances from 6 images. You then need a total of 36 acceptances from 12 images to qualify for Star 2, and so on up to 288 acceptances for Star 5. If you continue to accumulate acceptances beyond those required for Star 5, your acceptances are verified through the Galaxy Rating system. Once you have accumulated sufficient verified acceptances (through Star or Galaxy ratings) you can apply online for the appropriate ROPA award.

In the PSA system the verification process through the Star/ Galaxy Ratings system is done through different Divisions of PSA (Colour Projected Images, Monochrome Projected Images, Nature, Photojournalism, Photo Travel, Pictorial Prints and 3D). You cannot mix acceptances across Divisions for Star or Galaxy applications. For example, when applying for Star 1 in the Nature Division all your acceptances must have been obtained in PSA recognised Nature sections of exhibitions. However, once acceptances are verified through Star or Galaxy Ratings they can be combined to give the required number of acceptances for ROPA applications. For example, Star 4 in Nature plus Star 4 in Photojournalism would give the required 288 acceptances for the PPSA distinction.

PSA, Star Ratings applications can be made at any time. When sufficient acceptances have been achieved the relevant ROPA application can be made online at any time. There is no mandated waiting period between achieving one distinction and the next. With sufficient acceptances you could, for example, achieve QPS, PPSA and EPSA in the same calendar year.

There are no special requirements on the number of exhibitions or countries in which acceptances must be obtained and there are no requirements for achieving awards.

There is no special requirement for prints in the PSA system unless you are applying for Stars or Galaxies in the Print Division.

In the PSA Star Ratings system there is no limit to how many acceptances can be claimed for each image. However, once Star 5 is achieved in a Division (Nature for example) the images that were used up to that point have to be retired and acceptances that are claimed for Galaxy ratings have to be from new images and the number of acceptances that can be claimed for each image is limited to three. Beyond the Galaxy system there are Diamond ratings that require new images that have each received three acceptances.

During 2020 PSA developed Judges definition guidance notes for both Travel and Nature. For any SPF members who Judge these sections in Internationals, please see the below documents.

Entrants to PSA Internationals may also find this information useful in knowing what is eligible to be entered into these sections.