Having already gained the distinction of AFIAP (Artiste de la Féderation Internationale d’Art Photographique) BHPS member Ron Jarvis has added ‘Excellence’ to the accolade and now carries the letters EFIAP after his name. No small feat this! If you fancy having a go yourself, here’s what is required.

As a first step you must have the AFIAP distinction which is itself a daunting task.

For EFIAP you must gain at least 250 acceptances with at least 50 different photographs. ‘Acceptance’ meaning that a photograph has been chosen during a competition (salon) to be exhibited.

These acceptances must come from at least 30 different salons with FIAP Patronage.

The salons must be spread over at least 20 different countries.

At least 12 of your 50 photographs must have at least one acceptance as a print as well as being accepted as a PDI.

At least 2 of your pictures must each have received at least one award. (Gold Medal, Highly Commended, Ribbon, Certificate, etc.) The awards must have been gained in different salons and different countries.

Are you still with me? Well, that is just the first stage. Having achieved all of the above, and having kept meticulous spreadsheet records of your acceptances and awards along the way, you then move on to stage 2.

You now must submit a portfolio of 5 digital images to FIAP.

These photos must each have received at least 3 acceptances from different salons and must include at least 2 that have gained awards. They must also be different from the photos you had submitted to achieve the AFIAP distinction.

A contact sheet (part shown below) with thumbnails of all the accepted photos must also be sent  to FIAP, along with a spreadsheet containing all accepted titles and the salons that accepted them.

Having done all this you wait anxiously to see if your 5 photos are accepted by FIAP as worthy of the award of Excellence.

It should also be said that there is a financial commitment involved too as entering your photos for the salon competitions costs around £20 per salon. So, massive CONGRATULATIONS to Ron for achieving this mammoth task.

Contact sheet showing 20 of the 50 accepted photographs needed to achieve EFIAP

Contact sheet showing 20 of Ron's accepted photographs.

Footnote: I am currently attempting to gain the AFIAP award and will be giving a presentation on this as part of the club programme for next year.