Judging POYi: I am not a moron!

Brad Mangin:

The email arrived on December 21, 2007. Subject: “Invitation to judge POYi.” The words that followed stunned me: “Greetings from Pictures of the Year International. My name is Rick Shaw and I am the director for the international photojournalism program. It is my privilege to invite you to participate on the judging panel for the 65th annual Pictures of the Year International competition (Newspaper and General Divisions).”

Holy cow. Was he serious? I immediately called Rick and told him I would be honored to judge POYi. I would not be going to spring training to cover the Cactus League till the end of February, so this fit perfectly into my schedule. I knew this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity would help me learn a lot and grow as a photographer. Having the chance to look at thousands of photographs over a six-day period with a panel of three other judges was a chance I wanted to take advantage of.

Check it out here.