Defending Champion Team USA Wins World Photographic Cup
MONTPELLIER, France (PRWEB) April 15, 2015
The World Photographic Cup is on its way back to the States as Team USA, made up of representatives from Professional Photographers of America (PPA), narrowly defeated the competition for a second consecutive year. The cup was awarded April 12 in Montpellier, France.
Gold, silver, and bronze medals were awarded to the individual creators in each of six categories, and teams were awarded points for top ten finishes. Team USA won the cup with four medals and nine top 10 finishes. Team Portugal finished second with four medals and seven top 10 finishes, and Australia rounded out the podium with two medal wins and eight top tens.
Were very proud of the stunning images created by PPA photographers for Team USA this year, said David Trust, PPA CEO. This competition is really all about the fellowship of photographers from all over the world. Its an honor to be the association that represents this winning team of incredibly talented photographers.
The teams efforts were led by medalists Ben Shirk, Iowa, and Kenneth Martin, Wisconsin. Shirk, an Imaging USA and PhotoVision speaker, took two gold medals, in the portrait and wedding categories, as well as silver in the illustrative category. Martin won silver in the landscape/wildlife category. The other gold medals went to Portugal, Belgium, New Zealand and Spain.
The WPC was founded as a cooperative effort by The Federation of European Photographers (FEP) and PPA. Its singular goal is to unite photographers in a spirit of friendship and cooperation.
Each country can only be represented by one team, which is created by a national association comprised of professional photographers. Each team picks its own photographers and images to enter. Images were judged by a panel of 15 jurors from around the world, selected based on their photographic technique, experience and previous training as a photographic judge.
With the call for entries going worldwide, 25 countries entered this year, including Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Finland, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Latvia, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Pakistan, Poland, Slovakia, South Korea, Spain, Thailand, Ukraine, the U.K. and the U.S. Team USA captured last years inaugural Cup at Imaging USA in Phoenix. The WPC committee also announced Australia as the host nation for next years cup ceremony. Japan will follow in 2017.
Entries for Team USA are chosen at the annual International Photographic Competition (IPC). To be considered for entry to next years WPC, U.S. photographers must first enter their images into the IPC. Entries for the competition open in May.
To view the full list of WPC winners and view all submitted images, visit WorldPhotographicCup.org.
About PPA:
Professional Photographers of America (PPA) is the largest international nonprofit association created by professional photographers, for professional photographers. Almost as long-lived as photography itself, PPAs roots date back to 1869. It assists more than 27,500 members through protection, education and resources for their continued success. See how PPA helps photographers be more at PPA.com.