The 30th FIAP Congress will take place in Hanoi from August 1-8. This is a chance to learn more about a familiar playground of Vietnamese photographers for nearly 20 years.
Congress of the International Artistic Photography Federation (FIAP) will take place in Hanoi from August 1-8. This is a chance to learn more about a familiar playground of Vietnamese photographers for nearly 20 years.

These FIAP Prize-winning photos were taken by different photogrpahers.

Since 1991, when the Vietnam Photographers’ Association became a member of FIAP, Vietnamese photographers have been mistaken about the value of FIAP awards and titles and FIAP’s influence to the world photography.

FIAP’s amateurism

FIAP is the abbreviation of Fédération Internationale de l’Art Photographique, a non-government, non-profit, non-politic organization. FIAP has 100 members around the world, including Vietnam. Apart from a website at www.fiap.net, until April 2006 FIAP had its headquarters at 37 Chanzy, 75011, Paris, France. So far over 160 Vietnamese photographers have won FIAP titles like Hon.E FIAP, ES.FIAP, E. FIAP/b, E.FIAP, A. FIAP and one with M. FIAP title.

There is a gap of prestige between FIAP’s photo contests and contests organized by famous organizationa and groups in the world. As an amateur photography organization, FIAP photo contests focus on general beauty which doesn’t have much influence on the society. FIAP is a playground for amateur photographers.

M. FIAP title winners are mainly engineers, doctors, etc. who consider photographer as an amateur hobby. Their works are not displayed in world famous contemporary art museums of Chicago, New York, the MOMA or the Tate. FIAP competitions are also not mentioned on famous photography magazines like Rangefinder, Photo District, Picture Magazine, Communication Art (USA), Creative Review (Britain), Eyemazing (Netherlands), Zoom (Russia), etc. Frankly, FIAP doesn’t have remarkable influence on the international photography industry.

Prestigious photo competitions in the world clearly distinguish between amateur and professional photographers, aiming to encourage amateur photographers to try to become professional ones and to bring professional talents to the light.

The first prize for professional photographers of Sony World Award Photography (Britain) is up to $25,000, but it is only $5,000 for the amateur category. Other competitions organized by IPA (USA), PX3 (France), annual competitions of big contemporary art centers in Britain, USA and leading art magazines in the US like the NY Art Magazine, Color, Popular Photography, American Photo, etc. have broader influences than FIAP. The curators of these competitions are all photographers, visual artists and creative directors from top media groups in the world.

FIAP prizes are not the meter of standards and level of photographers. The titles granted by FIAP are only valuable within this organization. FIAP doesn’t attract the media and doesn’t have influence on artistic photographic trends in the world.

Mistaken

Amateurism is not bad but it is not professional. Professionalism in photography is not only different from amateurism in that professional photographers earn their major living from photography, but their skills must reach the professional level to have works of high values and having strong impacts on the society.

In the past 20 years, since the Vietnam Photographers’ Association joined FIAP, Vietnamese photographers have won thousands of FIAP prizes and they have mistaken of the achievements of Vietnamese photography.

There are two prestigious international awards that are highly appreciated by international professional photographers—the awards of World Press Photo and Pulitzer—but the Vietnam Photographers’ Association doesn’t mention as the goals of Vietnamese photographers.

Vietnam has won hundreds of international photo awards, but all of them are granted by FIAP and PSA (also an amateur photography organization in the US) and these awards are used to evaluate the achievements of Vietnamese photographers.

Notably, Vietnam’s wining photos only cover familiar topics like old people, children in the Central Highlands, kids playing with sand, etc.

Inaccurate information about FIAP and PSA awards has made many people, even officials of the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, mistake the achievement of Vietnamese photography while the position of Vietnamese artistic photography is very modest, even in Southeast Asia.