18 months ago, I made becoming “Portraitiste de France” one of my professional objectives and what a journey it’s been! The experience of putting together the portfolio of 12 portraits for the competition has been very enriching – not financially (as this competition does not have a financial reward) but through my personal and professional growth.
I’m very happy to announce that I am Portraitiste de France 2021! I discovered the good news during an awards ceremony and I am not ashamed to admit that I was a little emotional when I heard my name called out…
Thank you!
I’d like to thank everyone who helped me make this achievement possible, as it is impossible to be Portraitiste de France without any help. I’d like to thank my clients and models, without whom there would be no portraits, my fellow photographers who critiqued my portfolio, helping me strengthen my portfolio, the FFPMI who volunteered their time to organise this wonderful competition and, of course, my family who supported me throughout this journey.
Thank you!
So, what is the Portraitiste de France?
It’s a prestigious photography competition, held every 2 years and organised by the FFPMI (Fédération Française Nationale des Photographes et Métiers de l’Image). To participate, you must send in a portfolio of 12 photos (more on the portfolio below) and, if your portfolio is judged to be of high quality, the title of Portraitiste de France (PDF) is awarded. It’s a qualification, a quality label, that is valid for 4 years.
What do you need to do to become PDF?
There are some photographic competitions where you need to send in 1 photo and you are judged on that photo alone. It’s not that easy with the PDF. To be Portraitiste de France, you need to be versatile. You must have a good understanding of studio lighting as well as lighting outdoors and you need to understand how to photograph people of all ages, by themselves, as a couple and as a group.
To demonstrate your portrait skills, you need to send in a portfolio of 12 photos that fit into very specific categories. These categories include a child under 5, a pregnant woman with her partner or child, outdoor couple portraits and a group portrait of at least 4 people. There’s also a corporate / professional portrait category so you need to be able to photograph professional clients as well.
The photos you submit are judged on the following criteria:
- Impact / creativity
- Lighting
- Composition
- Posing
- Retouching and the quality of the print
As you see, it’s not enough to simply send in a pretty photo! You can check out my PDF portfolio at the end of this article.
Why is this qualification important for my clients?
The PDF is a qualification, it’s a label of quality. As a Portraitiste de France, my clients have the confidence in knowing that their photographer is a professional who produces high quality portraits.
It’s sometimes difficult to know who to choose when searching for a photographer – there are so many out there. By choosing a photographer who is a Portraitiste de France, you know that you’ll be getting quality photos, portraits that resemble you, a job well done.
My Portraitiste de France portfolio
Thanks for reading my blog article – I hope you have a greater understanding of this photography competition and what it means to receive the title.
Here are the 12 photos which I submitted for the PDF competition, and for which I received my title of Portraitiste de France 2021.
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