Via Melissa Lyttle
For the last three years there has been a split between the National Press Photographer's Association and the University of Missouri's Pictures of the Year. The purpose of this letter is to begin a dialogue with the hope of bringing the two groups together and offering a united community to photographers who enter these contests.
There is such a fine tradition behind the original contest as it was affiliated with the NPPA. Members looked forward to this one contest as a way to measure their work amongst their peers. We believe that having two similar contests based in America dilutes the honors and ultimately does not serve the profession. Resources are limited, and duplicating the effort amounts to wasted time and money on all sides.
The original mission of the unified POYi competition was simply to recognize good work and to elevate the craft of visual storytelling. It is in this spirit that we implore the leaders of POYi and NPPA to out their egos aside and begin discussions to come together to forge a new relationship. This new beginning is something photojournalism will benefit from.
In order to do this, please take a moment and go to this link:
http://www.aphotoaday.org/petition.html
Add your name to a petition to show your support for this movement among photographers both in and out of the NPPA membership.
I sincerely thank you for taking time to address this issue. If you have any questions, comments or suggestions please email them to petition@aphotoaday.org and we will try to address them.
We are stronger together than we are apart.
Thank You,
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