History of BPE
BPE was formed in late 80's by a group of exhibitions wishing to help one another with promoting the interests of Photographic Exhibitions within a British national catchment area and learn from each others experiences. This cooperation produced some immediate advantages, the most obvious being an increase in entries. In 1991 the Crown Award Scheme of accruing points for acceptances in its member exhibitions leading to awards similar to the one FIAP ran in the international exhibition world was launched. At a later date BPE distinctions were added to the scheme. This proved to be a way of not only encouraging entry but also of further emphasising the cooperation between exhibitions.
BPE did not wish to dictate how each exhibition was run with the exception of a few basic rules which included the provision of a catalogue for the purpose of recording acceptances, having usually a panel of 3 selectors, a maximum of 4 entries per section and that exhibitions should endeavour to attract entries from all over the United Kingdom and not just from a particular region.
The founding exhibitions in 1991 were: - Solihull, Southport, Clay Cross, Wellingborough, Leicester Forest, Rushden, Dingwall, Romsey, Nottingham, Sheffield and Handsworth.
Other exhibitions joined later as follows:-
1993 Ashfield, Bromsgrove, Guernsey
1995 Shrewsbury
1998 Cotswold, Wirral
1999 Vale of Evesham
2003 Bebington
2007 Great Barr, Beyond
2008 GDPU, Havant
2010 RTPS
2010 Great Barr PS Panels Exhibition
2011 Basingstoke Camera Club Exhibition / Yardley Photographic Society Exhibition / Robin Hood Open Digital Exhibition
2012 Frome Wessex Salon of Photography / Hornbill Challenge & Exhibition / Clay Cross National Projected Image Exhibition
2013 SRGB Photo Group - Print Celebration
To date in 2012 of the above the following remain:-
Bebington, Beyond, Bromsgrove, Cotswold, Dingwall, GDPU, Great Barr, Great Barr PS Panels,Guernsey, Havant, Rushden, Shrewsbury, Solihull, Southport, Vale of Evesham
| CROWN AWARDS TOTALS | ||
| One Crown | March 1991 Up to Sept 2012 |
616 |
| Two Crown | March 1991 Up to Sept 2012 |
469 |
| Three Crown | Jan 1992 Up to Sept 2012 |
279 |
| Four Crown | Feb 1993 Up to Sept 2012 |
116 |
| Five Crown | Feb 1994 Up to Sept 2012 |
75 |
| ABPE | May 1997 Up to Sept 2012 |
23 |
| FBPE | Dec 1998 Up to Sept 2012 |
17 |