[Pixalo]

Press release:
The deadline for the call for entries for the 150th year of The Royal Photographic Society’s International Print Competition is Friday 23rd March 2007.

The Society invites amateurs, students and professional photographers from around the world to submit work for consideration. Over 120 prints will be selected and one Gold, two Silver and three Bronze medals will be awarded – last year’s Gold Award for the 149th International Print Exhibition was won by Ray Spence FRPS for Reflection (left). This year, a Special Under-25 Gold Award and a prize of an E400 Digital SLR camera, kindly donated by Olympus, will also be presented for the best image by an entrant under 25 years of age.

In celebration of the 150th year of the exhibition, all entrants will receive a special anniversary edition of the Print Exhibition catalogue. In addition to a full colour reproduction of all the selected images, it will also feature a chronicled history of the 150 years of the Exhibition.

The Royal Photographic Society is the foremost photographic society in the world, and gaining an acceptance for the International Print Exhibition has always been coveted by professionals and has helped many aspiring photographers to launch their career and achieve recognition.

The Exhibition has been staged almost every year since the formation of the Society in 1853 and has built up an internationally renowned reputation for its exciting breadth of genres and styles, from the artistic to documentary, from portraiture to natural history. To commemorate the 150th anniversary, The Society has unveiled plans for a one-off retrospective exhibition to tour the UK alongside the Print Exhibition

A prestigious group of selectors have been invited to judge this year’s competition. The visual art photographer Bill Wisden Hon. FRPS is chairing the judging panel, which includes celebrity portrait photographer Terry O’Neill Hon. FRPS, reportage photographer Ken Lennox, professional travel photographer Roger Reynolds Hon. FRPS, fine arts photographer and lecturer Ray Spence FRPS, and digital creative photographer Anne Sutcliffe FRPS.

Professor Ralph Jacobson ASIS Hon. FRPS, President of The Royal Photographic Society said: “Over the last 150 years, the International Print Exhibition has stood for the very best photography that the world has to offer. To those planning on submitting entries for this year’s International Print Exhibition, I wish them the best of luck – we have a judging panel this year of the very highest order and I look forward to seeing the winning images. I would also like to thank Olympus for their sponsorship of the Special Under-25 Gold Award – their support is very much appreciated.”

Entry forms for the International Print Competition can be downloaded from The Society’s website (www.rps.org).