Ginger Liu awarded Silver by the London Photographers Association

May 17, 2010 - PRLog -- Ginger Liu had just completed a self-portrait series and decided to enter one of the images for competition. "I’d looked at past winners and saw how much they considered it a big deal to win an LPA award," she says. "Competitions are imperative. Winning a respected and industry-known competition like this is a selling point for photographers to market themselves and gain recognition. London is one of the most important cities in the art world."

The self-portrait was shot in 2009 and is part of a second series of shots. Ginger is also planning a third series. "The scars represent the efforts I went through to try and save my womb from an overactive fibroid," she explains.  "I had three separate surgeries and lost three years of my life. The title refers to a comment made to me by another woman when I told her that I had just recovered from a half hysterectomy. I was shocked because she was so repulsed. It affected me for some time.

I researched how other women felt about their operation, scars and identity. When I shared these images with other women, many of them told me that they were ashamed of their hysterectomy scars and some hadn’t dated in years. There are all these women who are hiding in shame from a very common operation. It all seemed rather ridiculous. So I hope that my art might encourage some women to feel okay about their scars."

Recognizing the uptake of digital technology and the way it was radically altering the way in which commercial and fine art photography was commissioned, produced, and marketed the London Photographic Association (LPA) was formed in 2001.

The LPA holds regular competitions and gallery exhibitions as a way of highlighting  photographers, this along with members folios, profile pages, online featured gallery exhibitions and social networking gives members worldwide exposure.