The Photographic Alliance of Great Britain (PAGB) Inter-Club Projected Digital Image (PDI) Championship is one of the most prestigious events in the UK club photography calendar. Held annually, it brings together the highest-calibre work from top photographic societies across the country.
1. Timeline and Venue
- When: The championship is held every summer, traditionally over a weekend in July.
- Where: The long-standing venue for the national final is the Warwick School in Warwick, providing an excellent theatre setting for displaying high-resolution digital projections to a large live audience.
2. Qualification and Entry
Clubs cannot simply register for the national championship; they have to earn their spot through rigorous regional selection:
- Federation Nominations: The PAGB is made up of 15 regional federations (such as the L&CPU, MCPF, N&EMPF, etc.). Each federation runs its own internal inter-club PDI championships earlier in the year.
- Quotas: Depending on federation size, each region nominates up to two or three clubs to represent them at the national finals.
- Automatic Invitations: The finalists from the previous year’s PAGB championship, along with the winner of the Plate competition, receive an automatic invitation to return, bypassing regional qualifiers.
3. Competition Structure & Category
- The Category: The competition is Open, meaning images can span any genre, from landscape and portraiture to creative, street, and nature photography.
- The Rounds: The championship typically consists of multiple rounds where a panel of images from each club is projected and scored by a panel of three highly qualified, independent national judges.
- The Plate Competition: Clubs that do not make it through to the final round of the main tournament compete in a secondary “Plate” competition, ensuring all travelling clubs get a full day of competitive projection.
4. Strict Eligibility Rules
The PAGB enforces stringent rules to maintain fairness and variety:
- Photographer Restrictions: A photographer can only represent one club per year in the championship.
- Image Life Cycle: An image can only be entered into the national Inter-Club PDI Championship once in its lifetime. Once it has been used in a scored round by any club, it is permanently retired from this specific competition. (Note: Images held in a club’s reserve “bank” that don’t get projected remain eligible for future years).
5. Accolades and Awards
- Club Trophies: The ultimate prize is the championship trophy awarded to the overall winning club based on cumulative points. (For instance, the 2025 title saw a dramatic joint tie at the top between Chorley PS and Rolls-Royce Derby PS).
- Individual Medals: Alongside the club rankings, PAGB gold and silver medals are awarded to the highest-scoring individual images of the day, alongside “Selector’s Choice” awards chosen by individual judges.