Press Release

Local Photographer’s Work on Display at International Exhibition of Professional Photography
Three prints created by Ben Leavitt of Leavitt Photo in Fort Irwin, California have recently been accepted into the LOAN Collection of the 117th International Exhibition of Professional Photography. Leavitt's work will be on display at the Phoenix Convention Center, January 11-13, 2009, in Phoenix, Ariz. This exhibition is held in conjunction with Imaging USA, an annual convention of over 8,600 professional photographers and several photographic associations.

Approximately 4,514 entries were submitted to Professional Photographers of America’s (PPA’s) International Print Competition, from which a panel of more than 40 eminent photographers from across the United States selected the images that would comprise the 2008 General and Loan Collections...the most prestigious awards. In recognition of the achievement, PPA members receive one merit for each entry into the General Collection (39% of entrants) and two merits for each entry into the Loan Collection (only 15% of all entrants). These merits can be applied toward PPA degrees granted by the association.

Titled "Man's Search for Meaning", "Which One of You Clowns is Responsible for This?!", and "The Rightful King of England," Leavitt's entries will be in Phoenix alongside other photographic works from not only PPA’s print competition, but also traveling and special invitational displays. These images constitute the world’s largest annual exhibit of professional photography gathered simultaneously under one roof.

Professional Photographers of America (PPA), an international nonprofit association, exists to assist its more than 20,000 members in achieving their professional, artistic and fraternal goals; to promote public awareness of the profession; and to advance the making of images in all of its disciplines as an art, a science, and a visual recorder of history.
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