Why I Left WPJA
April 25th, 2009 | Photography Tips, UncategorizedSince leaving WPJA earlier this year, I’ve been asked many times the rationale behind my decision. I thought it is good to clear this on the blog. Not that I cared what people thought of my decision, but more to satisfy curious brides & grooms and to save myself from repeating the same story to my friends in the industry.
In 2005/06 I was accepted into WPJA. I was over the moon with the acceptance because WPJA provided me two opportunities:
1. exclusive membership to a club where only the bests are accepted (that’s what it claims). There were only two of us from Malaysia then.
2. listing on WPJA directory which can bring traffic to my website
In early 2009, I decided to not to renew the WPJA membership because what had served me well three years ago, are no longer helpful to me. First of all, while WPJA paints itself as a exclusive club for top wedding photographers, there are, in my view, many sub-standard photographers that are accepted into WPJA. Looking at the membership list, I was honestly a bit embarrassed to be a member.
At the same time, many highly acclaimed professionals left the organization. Huy Nguyen (WPJA photographer of 2005) & David Beckstead (WPJA photographer of 2002) left WPJA. In fact, Huy was booted out from WPJA. This debacle kicked up a hell of a debate in various forums (DWF & Open Source). To me, WPJA loses credibility.
There are many world class photographers who are not WPJA members: Yervant, Ghionis, David Williams, Cliff Mautner, Joe Buissink, Denis Reggie (father wedding photojournalism), Jessica Claire, Becker, Mike Colon…the list goes on. My point is that being a member does not automatically cements one as the top 5% of wedding photographers in the world. It is sad to see that so many photographers who believe this hype. I have great respect for certain members in WPJA, Kelvin Koh, Patrick Low, Greg Gibson, Dino Lara, Stephen Loh but the respect stems from the quality of their work rather than their WPJA membership.
I am all for image/print competitions because they push us (photographers) to work hard. Personally, I want to compete against photographers I admire (see the names listed in the previous paragraph). If I am a race driver, I want to race in the F1 Grand Prix against the likes of Hamilton, Raikkonen, Massa, Schumacher. Won’t it be sweet to be able to compete against these illustrious line up of talents?
As for web traffic from WPJA directory listing, I am not missing much. According to Google Analytics, referring traffic from WPJA ranked 39th.
Joining a professional body is not about slapping a logo on my website, though that’s what most photographers in my area like doing. How does the logo add any value to our clients and us as professionals? Does having some logos on our website make us a better photographer over night? Shouldn’t we allow our work do the talking instead of bragging about memberships? You don’t find a single logo on my website except that of my own. I join professional bodies like WPPI and AIPP because I want to network with other photographers, learn from the best minds in the industry and compete against the most talented wedding photographers of our time. That is why I attend the conventions. I walk away each year a better photographer, entrepreneur and person.
So why should I pay U$300 to WPJA brings me little web traffic, prestige and professional help? I rest my case.
This is my take of WPJA. Your experience with it may differ vastly from that of mine. If it serves your needs and makes you happy, there is no reason why you shouldn’t continue with it. There are no perfect organization. I just stick with the ones that serve my needs.
April 25th, 2009 at 8:35 pm
thanks for being frank, again. that’s why i listened to you and hope i could too learn and benefit from WPPI.
April 26th, 2009 at 5:55 pm
Agree, the quality of WPJA has gone to the pics, you can even get in by stealing someone elses pics and submitting those.
The vetting process seems to have gone down hill.
Oh well, I don’t think you need any acronyms to boost you up any more
April 28th, 2009 at 2:25 pm
hey louis! Great post! I’m so glad to see another photographer writing their opinion on this whole thing. I was shocked too when Huy was booted out!
anyway, I have never joined, from the beginning for all the reasons you mentioned above
Lastly, you are right – its all about doing what works for you. And that is different for everyone
As the aussies say… ON YA!
April 28th, 2009 at 6:48 pm
It took you three years to realise this? I stopped after year one. WPJA was the in-thing back then but the only reason i joined was because someone in Malaysia included Brunei as part of their positioning statement and being the only WPJA that included my country. I applied and was accepted just to prove otherwise. After that, the WPJA was just a marketing site and unfortunately, we were not part of the demographics.. well.. I wasnt. I did like their ‘insurance’ policy and where they actually help provide backup gear for emergencies. Just too bad it couldnt apply to us here. We’re on our own.
And you are right.. most of the top wedding photographers who are the actual masters in their fields are not part of the WPJA. I believe these guys have nothing to prove.
Hence, I’m with you in your stance that its not an important part of our work but more as our own tests.
Now I see ppl twitting about getting in left right and centre.
Later.
Rgds,
David
PS. It was a lot harder to get in back then.
April 29th, 2009 at 9:06 am
I knew this is a sensitive post and I tried to give as much facts as possible without bridling my expression. After all this is my personal online space where I express myself. I am glad to know that I am not the only person who sees the issues. It is great we can discuss this in a civil and mature manner.
This post however does not discourage anyone from participating in a professional body. The lack of participation is precisely the problem because most of us join one to slap logos on our website/blog. So few participate in the conferences and print competitions which deny us of the opportunities to grow, network and be inspired. Yes, taking part can be costly. Let’s start from the print competition then because we belong to a community far bigger than our local community.
May 4th, 2009 at 3:28 pm
I saw your “I stand tall” pictures have won an award at WPPI, but this pictures only scored 11th place at WPJA, see this link http://www.wpja.com/wedding_photography_galleries/contest/08/q3/08-11.htm Why you never mentioned that you get number 11th in this category??? Please explain.
Patrick Low is better than you in this category.
If u got 11th place at WPJA but 1st at WPPI with same photograph…do u still think WPPI is better? or u cant accept that u r not as good?
Please think before you write. They are still a lots of photographer in WPJA.
May 4th, 2009 at 8:33 pm
Amy: Thanks for dropping into this debate. If you have read my post carefully, you would know that my disappointment with WPJA are as follows:
a) The absence of many world renown wedding photographers in WPJA makes me question its elitist claim.
b) My disagreement with some of WPJA’s recent recruitment.
c) Directory listing not providing sufficient referring traffic to my site to justify the U$300 annual fee.
d) Void of networking & education opportunities in WPJA. I want to be with organizations that help me to go further, not just take money from me.
e) I blog about this so that new photographers who want to spend their hard earn money for betterment to know what WPJA can and cannot provide…and what other professional bodies can help them.
I also got a 17th or 15th place in a AGWPJA contest that I never blogged about. How you want to interpret it is up to you. My conscience is clear. It is not uncommon that the same picture may score high in some and low in other competitions. One of Ryan Schembri pictures scored from 60-90+ points in several competitions. Being rejected is part of this business. I’ve never viewed awards as a conclusive manner to judge my standard. But if you want to stretch that to conclude my 11th place finish in WPJA as the reason I quit WPJA, it is up to you. Those will be your words, not mine.
I have always expressed respect for Patrick in public and private. We get alone perfectly well.