Professional Photographers of America
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| Established | 1869 |
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| Type | professional association |
| Headquarters | Atlanta, Georgia |
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Membership
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29,000 Cost: $194 – $323 per year |
| Website | www |
Professional Photographers of America (PPA) is a worldwide trade association of professional photographers. As of 2016, PPA has more than 29,000 members in 64 countries worldwide.
PPA is an association that seeks to help its members advance their careers by increasing the members’ business acumen as well as broadening their creative range. In fact, their mission is as follows:
The Professional Photographers of America, Inc., a worldwide association, exists to assist its 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.
In its early years, the association established a tradition of continuing education for members by providing annual forums for noted photographers, including Alfred Stieglitz, Edward Weston, Dr. C.E. Kenneth Mees, and Edward Steichen.This tradition continues to this day with continuing education classes held nationwide and at the annual Imaging USA convention, taught by the leading names in the photography industry. PPA members can become certified, earning the title of Certified Professional Photographer (CPP). The following degrees are also offered through PPA: Photographic Craftsman (Cr.Photog.), Master of Photography (M.Photog.), Master Artist (M.Artist), and Master of Photography and Photographic Craftsman (M.Photog.Cr.).
The association began loosely in 1869, as the National Photographic Association, in an attempt to bring together photographers from around the world. The group's first goal was to unite against Ambrotype patent restrictions. Although succeeding in preventing the reissue of the patent, the group disbanded in 1876 because of lack of interest. PPA as it is known today was officially formed in April 1880 as the Photographers Association of America, Inc., by members of the Chicago Photographic Association and the former National Photographic Association. The new association's goal was to combine the best minds of the profession, promote an exchange of ideas and knowledge, and eliminate narrow and prejudiced opinions regarding photography as an art and science. In their first April 1880 meeting, PAA elected John Ryder from Cleveland, Ohio, as its first president. A group of 237 photographers attended the first convention in Chicago on August 23–26. This is a huge feat considering the lack of technology and communication available to spread the word. At that 1880 convention, a special PAA committee gave demonstrations of the gelatin dry plate, a then-revolutionary imaging process. Their subsequent reports, based on member experiments, established the dry plate as standard professional material. Also present at early PAA conventions were many American daguerreotype pioneers, including John H. Fitzgibbon, who began making daguerreotypes as far back as 1841. The daguerreotype was the first practical and profitable photographic process, which had been introduced in 1839-40. The conventions run annually to this day and now go by the name, Imaging USA.
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