26.03.2026 - The People's Choice Award is Social Media Nonsense

In this episode, I offer a strong opinion about why the 'People's Choice Award' is a bad idea in photographic competitions. Such categories are never won by the 'best' photograph in class but are invariably taken out by whoever can scream the loudest on social media, 'Vote for Me!' This approach is the exact antithesis of why anyone should be entering a photographic competition, and such categories do little to foster the promotion of quality photography. Entering photography competitions should (if we enter for the right reasons) be about improving our work, growing as photographers through the feedback of our professional peers and competing against ourselves, and not worrying about social media popularity.