If you haven't heard of it, the Maitland International Salon of Photography is a photographic competition and exhibition that started in 1934 in the small New South Welsh (Australian) town of Maitland as part of the Maitland Agricultural Show. It has since expanded to become an international photographic salon displaying the works of amateur and professional photographers from around the world.
Huangshan, China
The Salon is held annually and between four and five thousand photographs from over fifty-five countries across the globe are submitted. Images are submitted into one of five categories for consideration and are scored by a judging panel for acceptance.
Lush, Melbourne Docklands, Australia
The accepted images, including the award winners, become part of the Salon Exhibition, which takes place at the Fine Arts Pavilion in Maitland from the 13th to the 19th February, and at the Maitland Regional Art Gallery from the 24th of February to the 7th of April.
Temple Visitor, Macau
The three images above are pieces I've had accepted to the Salon. Knowing they'll be on display alongside the amazing work of internationally respected photographers is a huge thrill. I wasn't good enough to win any of the awards, but only about a ten percent of photographs submitted are accepted, and that's enough for me.
The standing of the Salon is such that acceptance of a photograph can be used to support an application for honours in photography from the Photographic Society of America, the Fédération Internationale de l'Arte Photographique and the Australian Photographic Society. I don't even know what that means, but it sounds great.
I don't do this for awards or recognition. But getting feedback like this on my work is wonderful.