2020 North Shore Salon There is no doubt that 2020 has challenged anyone trying to run events. The organising committee of the 2020 North Shore Salon decided to push ahead with the event despite the disruption of COVID-19. To find our how things went CameraTalk interviewed the salon chair Diane Costello LPSNZ.
Overall, how did the 2020 Salon go? What a rollercoaster ride it was this year, with the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. New Zealanders were required to self-isolate at Level 4 at 11.59pm on 19 March 2020, and there was great uncertainty surrounding our ability to fully progress and deliver the Salon this year. Achieving Level 1 at 11.59pm on 8 June ensured we were well positioned to move ahead as planned for the 26th North Shore Salon. Where there is a will there is always a way, and having to be agile in the our thought processes, the Salon Committee was able to navigate through the various COVID Levels and settle on the best and most viable solution for progressing the Salon.
How did that compare with previous years, especially in the number and standard of entries? We had an increase of 340 entries, compared to 2019, with a total of 2,007 entries. There were 676 print and 1,331 digital entries, whereas last year we had 445 print entries and 1343 digital entries. The ‘Never Seen Before’ category proved very popular and had the most entries of all the print categories. Last year, there were 85 prints in the category (Monochrome) that was replaced. A selection of 137 prints out of 676 was exhibited at the Mairangi Bay Arts Centre in July. We believe the standard of the exhibited prints was easily as high as in previous years. It is truly an accolade to receive an Acceptance and upwards in this company, selected by six judges.
COVID-19 changed the way that prints were handled, in that initially the selection was made from digital images and then only those accepted were printed. What was the reaction of your entrants to that process? We did not have any objections to the manner in which we were forced to operate the Salon this year. We insisted on receiving enough pixels in the digital file presented to be sure that a top quality print could be made, and that no defects were hidden behind compression and size reduction. The judges were able to inspect the images at 100% resolution if required. Everyone was supportive and patient. I would assume that those who did object, didn’t enter. The proof was in the pudding when we saw the final selections on the MAC walls, all well deserved.
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