With increasing popularity in digital imaging, the number of entries in the traditional media has declined considerably for international competitions and exhibitions. As a result, many organisers of such events have ceased to accept colour slides and prints. Instead, they introduced digital sections which have continued to see a significant increase in the number of entries in recent years.

Following such developments, the organising committee of the Singapore International Photography Award (SIPA ), which accepts solely digital images, has introduced online submission of entries and online payment of entry fees. This marks another new milestone for SIPA which has a history of being a well established international event for more than 50 years.

The SIPA committee has also improved upon the electronic judging system to cater for the increase in the number of entries, and to facilitate the mailing of results to the participants more promptly.

It is gratifying to note that this year’s SIPA has received a total of 4,403 entries from 407 photographers of 51 countries. These numbers have far exceeded the previous years’ and are a reflection that SIPA is fast gaining popularity in the international photography circles.

I would like to commend the effort of the 2011 SIPA committee headed by Mr Kuah Siong Lim for maintaining SIPA ’s relevance in today’s digital age. I appreciate the considerable amount of time they have devoted to ensure that the judging was carried out smoothly with the new software, and that the exhibition is successfully implemented.

I would like to congratulate this year’s prize winners, and all the other photographers whose work have been accepted, for helping to maintain the high standard of entries for SIPA .

For those who are overseas, and those who are unable to join us at the exhibition, I hope that you will enjoy the high quality images in this catalogue.

David P C Tay
JP, BBM, Hon. FPSS, Hon. EFIAP, FRPS
President,
The Photographic Society of Singapore

The 58th Singapore International Photography Award (SIPA) has taken a bold step forward to develop our own proprietary software system to allow online submissions and judging this year.

It proved to be a wise decision for the committee to tap on the latest technology. We attracted a total of 4403 works of 407 photographers from 51 countries, with a handsome increase of more than 50% of entries received.

We realised that many participants were not able to submit smoothly during the process especially nearer to the closing date. It might due to overloading in the internet traffics. Please forgive us if you encountered problems during submission. I really appreciate your patient.

I would like to thank all the participants for your support and congratulate all the SIPA Winners for showing us your excellent images.

I am great to have a team of very committed and dedicated volunteers, who adopted the newly developed system very quickly and helped to maintain the smooth operation during the judging process. Special thanks to Mr. Colin Nah who had helped in the system developing and support.

I am very honoured to have Mr. Masagos Zulkifli, Minister of State for Foreign Affairs and Home Affairs to officiate the opening ceremony of the SIPA 2011 Exhibition.

The 58th SIPA would not have been possible without assistance of the judges, and the support of our sponsors, staff and volunteers.

KUAH SIONG LIM
APSS
Chairman,
58th Singapore International Photography Award Committee