The Photojournalism Division - Brief Article

PSA Journal, July, 2002 by Keith Vaughan

As my term of office as Chairman of the PJ Division of PSA runs down to the wire, I must confess to a feeling of relief that it is coming to a close. By the close of the conference in Pittsburgh, I will have occupied this position for four years, just as my immediate predecessors, Ralph Pyke, FPSA, and Lynn Maniscalco, FPSA, did. I am sure the two 2-year terms were not meant to be the norm and I would urge that the future see more volunteers rising in the PJ Division so that future Chairpersons will only have to serve one two-year term. I am sure that David Frick, APSA, my successor, will echo this sentiment. Frankly, I ran out of steam after three years and this fourth year has been very much a holding pattern to keep things afloat until David takes over in September.

The activities of the PJ Division can be divided into three reasonably well-defined groups. First, there are the various competitions and awards that the Division operates. The Interclub PJ slide competition is healthy again under the able Directorship of Past Chairman Ralph Pyke, FPSA, and eleven clubs are involved on a regular basis four times per year. Currently the Greater Lynn Camera Club leads the pack. The Photo Story competition, under the direction of Jeff Tamms, APSA, has attracted a larger number of entries in recent years with high quality entries in print and slide divisions. Jeff also runs the PJ Division Travelling Biennial International Exhibition in even-numbered years; this year the exhibition has the special theme "The Golden Years: Life after 50!" Division 1st Vice Chairman, David Frick, APSA, is the director of the Published Picture Competition, which results in the award of the prestigious Ollie Fife trophy to the overall winner. The Photojournalist of the Year competition is open to any image, slide or print, that wins a medal award at any PSA-recognized exhibition during the calendar year; this year the competition is under the direction of newcomer Wing Lau of King of Prussia, PA.

The second group of activities involve what I think of as the three salon Directorships: Star Ratings, Who's Who and Exhibition Standards, directed respectively by Barbara Pyke, FPSA, Terry Mahon and Jan Maguire, FPSA. All three of these activities are based on an individual member's performance in PSA-recognized salons and the Director's work involves extensive recordkeeping and a big investment of time, which we benefit from by earning our star ratings and standing in the annual Who's Who edition of the PSA Journal. As the number of PJ salons with PSA recognition grows, so too does the amount of work involved in these three Directorships.

The third group of PJ activities is the service activities, which are available for participation by all PSA members and could be utilized by members much more than is apparent to me. Rather than duplicate valuable Journal space by listing them here, I would rather direct you to the Services section on page 34 of this issue of the PSA Journal. I'm sure that every PSA member could take advantage of at least one of the services offered by the hard working Directors: Dale Gilkinson, APSA, Darrell McLanahan, Lois Clarke, FPSA, Alex Lane, Rick Cloran, FPSA, Bob Bullock, APSA, Roland Smith, APSA and Tom Moorhead, APSA.

Aside from the three main groups of activities, there are some very special, important activities unique to the PJ Division. Dale Gilkinson, APSA. and Diane Racey, APSA. put together a special theme slide show as part of the PJ Division program at the Annual Conference every second year. The slides used in these programs are submitted by PSA members and the show is coordinated by Dale and Diane. After their very successful "A Day in the Life of PSA" program presented in 1998, Dale and Diane did a "Y2K" show in 2000 and this year they are collecting material for a program titled "Honoring Those Who Serve" to be shown in Pittsburgh. Also unique to the PJ Division is the "International Understanding Through Photography" award under the Chairmanship of Bob Leonard, FPSA.

Over and above all of these activities is an executive group without which I could not function as Chairman and without whom the Division would be rudderless. I refer to the First Vice Chairman, David Frick, APSA, who also coordinates the PSA Conference PJ Program, and 2nd Vice Chairman Bob Ginn, who looks after the Division Information Center. Then there is the Secretary, Lydia Savedoff, FPSA, and the Treasurer, David Holder, who keep track of the proceedings and the money respectively.

As is the case throughout PSA, the PJ Division can only operate with a horde of volunteers and I take this opportunity to thank them all most heartily for making my job as Chairman a lot easier.