The Photographic Alliance of Great Britain (PAGB) run an awards scheme called the Awards for Photographic Merit. The Awards for Photographic Merit (APM) are open to all members of Clubs affiliated to the PAGB through their Federations and are at five levels: BPAGB, CPAGB, DPAGB, EPAGB and MPAGB. The awards are held for life without any annual fee and holders are entitled to use the designated letters after their name.
All the information you need about the awards themselves is on the PAGB website at PAGB AWARDS FOR PHOTOGRAPHIC MERIT INFORMATION and there are the downloadable leaflets there, which we recommend that you read. A summary of the levels is below.
BPAGB
The standard of the PAGB is defined as “good club standard” but…the standard is higher than many candidates expect. Normally it is best to start with the BPAGB and then progress to the CPAGB even if you think you are already above B level.
CPAGB
The images needed to achieve the Credit Award can be described as “Good Club Photography”. Photographs which meet the requirement for CPAGB will probably do well in a good Club in an Advanced Section of their internal competitions or in Inter-Club competitions, the kind of image which a good Club might choose to represent them in Federation events
DPAGB
It’s a big step up to the DPAGB from the CPAGB. Many candidates think they are ready for the D immediately after they pass the C, but it is rarely the case. The DPAGB is current exhibition standard. The advice, if you are going for this level, is to acquire a track record of national salon acceptances for your work and remember that fashions change, so your track record should be recent when you apply for the D.
EPAGB
The Adjudicators are looking for photographs that, in their opinion, should be good enough to achieve a high level of acceptance in Open Exhibitions but, although there can be a much greater commonality of standard at exhibition level, there are still considerable variations. Only existing holders of the DPAGB Award may apply for the EPAGB and none of the images used at DPAGB may be used for EPAGB
MPAGB
The MPAGB is the highest level of amateur club photography. For this level, your work should be capable of winning awards regularly at exhibition level.
Pre-qualification, Applying for a Mentor and Applying to the PAGB for an Adjudication
The Mentoring Secretary/Awards Officer runs the scheme and you need to apply to heim for a mentor at mentoring@lcpu.org.uk
From March 2023, the Mentoring Secretary and Awards Officer is James Hardy.
All applicants must qualify in accordance with their Federation’s criteria as an active member of an affiliated club. This support must have been given, by currently active photographers, for a minimum of :-
2 years for BPAGB and CPAGB
3 years for DPAGB
3+ for EPAGB
5 years for MPAGB
A retrospective period of 10 years may be considered if you have changed clubs or federations.
Applicants for MPAGB must have held DPAGB for at least 11 months on date of application.
You can apply to our Mentoring Secretary/Awards Officer – by email to mentoring@lcpu.org.uk – for a pre-qualification certificate and application form, which you then send to the PAGB when you are ready to apply. The Awards Officer needs to be sure that you have pre-qualified before you can apply. This can sometimes be checked from federation competition records or your club secretary may provide information by email.
Before sending in your form, please ensure that you are fully ready for the awards by going through our mentoring scheme and attending a mentoring seminar/advisory day. Your mentor will help you to decide if you are ready to apply, so don’t apply until your work is ready. If you back out after making an application you may/will lose all of your fee.
The Mentoring Scheme
Over 97% of L&CPU applicants that participate the mentoring scheme have passed their accreditation.
The present mentors are Christine Widdall, Adrian Lines, Gwen Charnock, Phil Charnock, Mike Lawrence, and Jane Lines.
What you can expect from a mentor:
- We will ask you to send us your best images, a maximum of 30 images at 1600×1200 pixels. (If you are entering with prints, we would like to have a meeting to see your prints at some stage.) Approach your mentor to find out what is their preferred method of receiving your work.
- You can expect a fair appraisal of your work, with advice on its suitability for the award…with brief comments.
- Some indication, in the mentor’s opinion, if the work is at the standard, above or below (though this will not guarantee you a pass!). Some advice about improving your work may be given if appropriate.
- You will normally work with one mentor. If you wish for a change for some reason, please consult with the Mentoring Secretary.
- Your mentor’s advice, if taken, should help you to maximise your chance of passing, but remember that not all candidates will pass. In the L&CPU, we have a very high rate of success since we started up this system, but we cannot guarantee a pass.
- Mentors will accept follow-up images so long as you do not swamp them with all your new work!
What you cannot expect from your mentor:
- To have your mentor at your beck and call on a regular basis. Remember, your mentor may have a dozen more candidates…and also has a life! So, please respect your mentor’s time and only send in images when you truly think they are ready, not on an iterative basis, expecting daily comments on how you are doing!
- You cannot expect your mentor to be your teacher. We do not have time for this and expect that you will have, or be able to acquire, the necessary skills appropriate to the level that you are attempting. Take time to learn the skills that you need and spend time working on your images on your own and entering them into competitions to see how they fare.
- We do not look through your Facebook or Flickr accounts to find suitable images…this is too time consuming…we expect that you have already tried out your best work before judges at your club and in external competitions/exhibitions.
- You cannot expect your mentor to chase you up! It is up to you to make the first approach and you will be given contact details. Your mentor cannot read your mind, so if you are backing out or delaying applying, please send a note to your mentor to explain this.
- Please ask again when you need a mentor for the next level.
Mentoring Seminar
From time to time we will run a mentoring/advisory seminar for the PAGB Awards, when we will project images from recently successful panels and then run a mock adjudication, with six of our mentors as adjudicators. It is important that this process is only seen as a guide and your marks will not be duplicated exactly on the day, but it will show you which is your strongest work and how you rank with other candidates.The most important part of the day is the individual feedback that we give about the borderline work.
We aim to run one seminar each year, usually in the autumn.
Mentoring Outside the Official Scheme
Some people would prefer to be helped by a friend or colleague. There is absolutely no doubt that mentoring outside the official scheme can also be beneficial. However, if you prefer to be helped by a friend or colleague, please choose carefully and ensure that the person who is helping you is truly up to speed with all the requirements of the PAGB and also has attended adjudications, as mentoring is very different from just being a club judge or a good photographer (or a good mate!).
L&CPU Mentoring Scheme for PAGB APMs article by Christine Widdall MPAGB FBPE EFIAP from eNews 51
Examples of successful submissions
From Issue 67 onwards the PAGB e-Newsletter started to feature APM submissions. All the newsletters are available on the PAGB page.
Here are some successful L&CPU submissions, which you can view to help you to understand the standards.
CPAGB | DPAGB | MPAGB |
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