‘Year’s best photos’ to be showcased for first time in town

The 2017 Professional Photographers Asia Community (PPAC) International Photo Awards and Convention will take place in Macau tomorrow and on Wednesday.

This is the first time the event will be held in Macau, following four previous editions in Hong Kong, Guangzhou and Shanghai, PPAC Chairman Allison Chan said in a press conference yesterday afternoon at The Venetian Macao.

The two-day event comprises an exhibition, photography master courses, an award ceremony and a photography competition for local residents. PPAC is hosting the event in partnership with the Macau Cultural and Creative Industries Association.

Over a dozen top photographers from the U.K., U.S., Malaysia, Singapore, Philippines, Taiwan, Bangladesh and China will join the event as judges, guest speakers and master class speakers.

These names include David Beckstead (U.S.), one of American Photo magazine’s “Top 10 Wedding Photographers in the World” in 2007, and Erich Caparas (U.S.), a renowned photographer and image editor famous for his use of color and of the human body as a canvas.

According to the organizers, the main purposes of the event are to discover new talent in the field, raise photography standards in Macau, create networking opportunities and facilitate the discussion of ideas and insights.

“I’m pleased that the 2017 PPAC International Photo Awards and Convention will be staged in Macau. Through the event, photography enthusiasts and everybody from the arts and creative industries around the world will be meeting in Macau to share the latest trends and to inspire greater creativity,” said Chan.

“It was always our wish to hold this event here […] one of the biggest events is held by WPPI [Wedding and Portrait Photographers International] Conference and Expo in Las Vegas, so we always wanted to bring this event here to Macau,” she added.

Gary Tang, Committee Chairman of the Macau Cultural and Creative Industries Association, highlighted the association’s role in promoting the cultural and creative industries, in accordance with the Central Government’s 13th five-year plan and with the MSAR government’s support.

“The event will be the perfect platform to nurture local talent and our rising stars,” said Tang.

“The activity will also help to enhance the image of Macau and benefit tourism.”

The exhibition is one of the largest in Asia for professional photography. It will feature a selection of the 500 best photographs from community members, out of 10,000 entries from over 3,000 participants in 100 different cities worldwide.

The works will be displayed at Conrad Hotel in Cotai Central.

At a gala dinner tomorrow, the PPAC will choose and award prizes for the three best works in eight categories, as well as the top 10 international photographers.

PPAC has also organized a local online photo competition which will be open to the general public. The submission categories are Humanities, Landscape and Macau Scenery. These are each divided into three submission groups: Camera – open, Camera – hobbyist and Smartphones.