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[B]Photographer of the Year winner was also a judge, along with three other winning judges[/B]

Yesterday we ran a [URL="http://dpnow.com/8610.html"]routine press release[/URL] concerning the result of the British Institute of Professional Photography (BIPP) Photographer of the Year competition, with the overall winner being Richard Mayfield. Unfortunately the news has developed into a far from routine controversy after The British Journal of Photography (BJP) reported that at least four of the competition judges were category winners in the competition, including Mayfield.

The BIPP, which runs the slogan "The Voice of the Profession" defended itself by stating that judges are excluded from categories where there are conflicts of interest. Personally, it looks to me like a complete conflict of interest from the start. And one of the judges netting the overall accolade - that is simply not acceptable. Even if you argue that he entered a great image, the fact is that he has a relationship with the other judges and that must cast enough doubt over the impartiality of the judging - whether it was actually impartial or not. The sad thing is that problem has nothing to do with photography - it's all about common sense.

The Voice of the Profession wasn't representing one photographer who tipped us off about this news - he prefers to remain anonymous, but he and, no doubt, many other photographers are very unhappy with the BIPP's state of affairs.

The BJP reports that the BIPP is rather tardily acknowledging the problem and is 'considering' a change in the rules to exclude competitors from being judges. I just can't understand why judges were allowed to enter in the first place.