Award-Winning Photographer
Andrew Bowen, M.Photog., CPP
While it is nice to say that I am an award-winning photographer, the real honor is working with the many dance artists who have come to the studio over the years. Photography, like dance, is a career of life-long learning. If you work to elevate your craft and have a little luck, your peers bestow some honor and recognition upon your art. These programs and exhibitions help me to continue growing as an artist by creating various unbiased peer reviews of my work. This allows me to deliver more compelling photography to every dancer who comes through the door, which is the real goal.
Prix de la Photographie Paris (PX3)
The Prix de la Photographie, Paris (PX3) is one of the most prestigious photography competitions in the world. I invite you to look at the website be inspired. This was my second year entering in the Professional Portrait category, and this time one image received a Bronze Award, and one was given an Honorable Mention! See my images on the blog here:
Master Photographer in Portrait
Working in multiple organizations helps ensure that one’s learning isn’t monolithic. I started submitting to the International Imaging Competition (IIC) through Master Photographers International (MPI). They are headquartered in Canada, attracting a well-rounded international set of photographers. This year, over 80 countries were represented in the IIC competition. MPI seeks to create an international learning environment that fosters a very high caliber of work.
For the 2024 IIC, most of my work came from 2023 and was scored very well (see below). I earned enough competition points to apply for my Master Photographer in Portrait (MPP) degree. To complete the application, I had to submit a portfolio of 10 images in one class (Fine Art Dance Photography) to show mastery. I am very proud to say that I was awarded my Master Photographer in Portrait degree. While images that earned a Silver Award are sufficient for the MPP, to reach my Grand Master Photographer in Portrait, I will have to up my game and create more Gold or Platinum Award images. I’m excited about my artistic growth through MPI and ICC. Game on!
International Imaging Competition (IIC)
The International Image Competition (IIC) through Master Photographers International (MPI) attracts photographers from around the globe. A full round-up of the results can be found here:
All submitted images earned a medal. Three received Gold Awards, and 15 others received Silver. Within their class (subcategory), images took two first places, a first runner-up, and a pair of second runner-up positions. Overall, my top four images in the Portrait Category comprised the third-highest scoring case! I’m already thinking about how to up my game for next year!
Master of Photography
Earning my Master of Photography (M.Photog) Degree from Professional Photographers of America (PPA) highlights my photography career. The multi-year effort required accumulating 12 PPA-approved education credits by attending numerous classes and earning 13 merits in the International Print Competition (IPC). In the fall of 2020, I earned the merits necessary and officially received my degree in January 2021. I am thrilled and humbled to have the work I create for clients judged favorably and amazed by how much I’ve learned in my journey. Thank you to everyone who has been part of the journey thus far, and I look forward to seeing what new worlds we create together.
“So many people have taught, challenged, inspired, and provided reality checks along the way. I have been privileged to learn from amazing artists and business professionals throughout my career. I look forward to many more years of inspiration and challenge. Thank you, Emme, for being an honest and generous guide along the way, taking in a time-challenged neophyte, and making him feel worthy. Most of all, I want to thank my wife and daughter for their love and support throughout the time of success, doubt, expense and mental thrashing along the way”
-Andrew at 2021 Degree Ceremony
Pas de Deux Photography Competition
Pas de Deux is a photography organization dedicated solely to dance photography. To help further the goals of creativity and quality work, the Pas de Deux photo competition was introduced in 2020. Due to Covid, there was no competition in 2021. There as not been a competition since 2023.
2023:
- 2nd Place overall in the Grand Prize judging.
- First Place Studio Photo
- Second Place Studio Photo
- Fourth Place Studio Photo
- Third Place Teen Photo
- Ninth Place Teen Photo
- Fifteenth Place Teen Photo
- Ninth Place Pre-Teen Photo
- Of 16 images entered, 15 were accepted as Finalists.
- 2 of 2 images in the pre-teen category are finalists.
- 7 of 7 images in the teen category are finalists
- 6 of 7 images in the studio category are finalists
2022:
- 8th Place overall in the Grand Prize Judging
- First Place Teen Photo
- 4th Place Teen Photo
- Top 20 Teen Photo
- 9 of 10 Teen Photos were accepted as Finalists
- 8th Place Studio Photo
- 9th Place Studio Photo
- Top 20 Studio Photo
- 7 of 10 Studio Photos were accepted as Finalists. The remaining 3 were honorable mentions.
2020:
- Top 20 finish in fine art
- All submitted images were in the finalist category for studio work.
International Print Competition
Since 2016, I have participated in the Professional Photographers of America’s International Print Competition (IPC). IPC is a juried competition in which images are judged against 12 factors, such as impact, presentation, technical skill, and overall impression. Each year, only four images may be submitted for consideration. While not required by the rules, all submitted images are work I have done for clients.
Merit means that the judges have deemed the image excellent in quality and artistry. Some photos are considered exceptional and selected to be part of the Imaging Excellence Collection (renamed from the Loan Collection in 2021). The official IPC presentations are then held at the Exhibition at the Imaging USA Conference, which is held in January each Year.
In 2024, IPC moved to a head-to-head competition format where images may be submitted into 16 categories. Thirty-two finalist photographers are selected; if they submitted more than one image, only their best image is included in the finalists. Then, a head-to-head competition ensues to select medals.
New IPC Format:
- 2025: 3 Photos were submitted and accepted as finalists:
- Natural Portrait: “Intertwined” — Gold Medal (top 8)
- Group Photography: “Contemporary Dance Avalanche” — Bronze Medal (top 32)
- High School Seniors: “A Little Bit Country and a Little Bit Ballet” — Bronze Medal (top 32)
- 2024: 2 Photos were submitted and accepted as finalists:
- Natural Portrait: “Taking the High Road” — Gold Medal (top 8)
- Group Photography: “Tension in Unison” — Gold Medal (top 8)
Old IPC Format:
- 2023: Diamond Photographer of the Year for having all four images receive Image Excellence designation.
- Image Excellence: “Defying Gravity”, “Boundless”, “And All That Jazz”, and “Power Lines”
- Three of four images were awarded Top-10 designations in the District Competition.
- “Defying Gravity” was nominated as a finalist in the Senior category at the Grand Imaging Awards.
- 2022: Bronze Photographer of the Year again for having all four images receive merits.
- Merit Images: “Sacred Geometry”, “Conflicted”, “Rising from the Darkness”, Heart of the Sunrise”
- Top-10 District Award for “Heart of the Sunrise”
- 2021: No Case Award, but received my first two Image Excellence designations.
- Image Excellence Images: “Lost in the Moment” and “Stretching the Limits”
- Merit Image: “Interlude”
- Earned enough merits to qualify for my Master Photographer degree from PPA.
- 2020: First time earning a Bronze Award for 4/4 Merit Images
- Merit Images: “Connected Since Birth”, “Precarious”, “Spiraling into Control”, “The Final Act”
- This was my first year submitting dance photography
- 2017-2019: Early period in IPC earning five merits in portrait photography
- Merit Images: “Her Reasons”, “Return of the Queen”, “Content as I Am”, “And after the fire, a still small voice”, and “The White Prom Queen”
Stage… Interrupted
An Artists Grant from Arts Greensboro and the NC Arts Council in 2022 subsidized a project to give voice to the high school-aged dancers whose lives were upended by the pandemic. This project, Stage… Interrupted, now lives here:
We are now looking to collect stories of students’ loss of stage beyond the pandemic, professional retirement, and creating new lives after the stage. If you know someone with a story, please have them fill out the contact form on Stage… Interrupted.
North Carolina Artist Exhibition
North Carolina Artists Exhibition has evolved to become the largest annual all-media juried exhibition in the state. This juried exhibition allows artists to present their works before renowned art professionals, art aficionados, and potential buyers. In its over 50-year history, thousands of North Carolina artists’ creative work has been celebrated in the North Carolina community.
Learn more at the Raleigh Fine Arts Society and NC Artists Exhibition websites.
2024:
- Metamorphosis
- Select as one of 72 images from over 1000 submissions
2023:
- Taking the High Road
- Select as one of 79 images from over 800 submissions
- SOLD!
2024 Art of the Arts Exhibition
Art of the Arts is a nationally juried exhibition of artworks that uses the visual arts to feature and highlight other art forms such as Dance, Theater, and Literature.
Learn more at the d’Art Center of Norfolk website.
2024:
- Taking the High Road
- Boundless
- Atlas
- Selected from nearly 300 submissions
2024 Arts North International 29
In its 29th year, this highly competitive international juried exhibition showcases work by artists throughout the United States and worldwide. There is a wide range of mediums represented, including acrylic, oil, and watercolor paintings, sculptures, fiber & textiles, ceramics, photographs, and more.
Learn more at the Hopkins Center for the Arts website.
2024:
- Sacred Geometry
- Power Lines
- Selected from over 1000 submissions
Innovation + Design Show
I received the People’s Choice Award in the Photography Competition at the 2021 I+D Show in High Point, NC. Innovation + Design is a furniture design competition under the hospices of the International Society of Funiture Design. The photography competition required taking a piece of furniture from the show and photographing it in an interesting way. This 6-foot pendant lamp by Ashoke Chhabra (ashokechhabra.com) was an obvious first choice, and incorporating a dancer into the design was a foregone conclusion.
During the Covid-19 crisis, I chose to do something I had been putting off: becoming a Certified Professional Photographer through PPA. The certification process includes a test that assesses the photographer’s knowledge of various technical skills, including lighting and light, color theory, camera operation, optics, lens behaviors, and editing tools. There is then an image submission that demonstrates the application of your technical skills. I am proud that I passed my exam on my first try with 96% and had my images accepted on my first submission.