RPS Contemporary Group Submissions and Distinctions
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Submissions for Associateship or Fellowship are open to all members of the Royal Photographic Society
The forms of submission of work have been widened to better reflect contemporary photographic practice.
For the recent successful Fellowship Panel by Graham Sargeant, please view 'here'.
Submission of work
The RPS is very keen to encompass a wider range of styles of work over and above sets of 15 or 20 prints or transparencies, the former being set out as standardised display rows.
Book form submissions and submission of work on CD are already approved steps in this direction. Further widening in the form of submissions in the Contemporary category are now agreed and prospective candidates are encouraged to pursue these alternatives to existing forms of submission of work.
Submissions of work for the Associate Contemporary distinction are sought in the first instance, but intending Fellowship applicants are encouraged to make enquiries, which will also be considered sympathetically. More detailed guidance for intending applicants is in preparation. An accompanying written statement of purpose and intended meaning of the work is required up to 300 words in length.
Forms of Submission
In print, transparency, book form, 
portfolio or three-dimensional installation form or combinations of these. For example, a submission of a portfolio and/or workbook relating to the topic addressed by the work plus a minimum of three large images will be assessed as a single submission.
Assessment will be based on all material submitted, not just the larger images for display. Project portfolios as above where some or all of the work is in the form of a photo-based construction e.g. in three-dimensional form. This list is not restrictive and other forms of submission are encouraged.
Display of Work
In a freeform with or without a mix of image format sizes, within a display area of three metres wide by two metres high.
As portfolio or book material. As two or three rows of prints as at present. As transparencies for projection in sequence or for display on a lightbox.
Use of floor space will be allowable for constructed items if required, but practical limits of a set-up time of, say, five minutes maximum are necessary for practical reasons.
Gallery exhibition
Assessments by visit to gallery exhibitions will also be considered for work that is not easily portable or which needs to be seen in its gallery context. This is subject to practical and cost constraints. Intending candidates are asked to contact the RPS Distinctions Manager in the first instance. An additional payment may be required.
For further distinctions advice please contact:
Chair of Distinctions Panel - Carol Hudson, FRPS
Distinctions Panel Member - Brian Steptoe, FRPS
