Santa Clarita Valley resident Kevin Karzin was named a gold medalist during the Professional Photographers of America’s 2022 International Photographic Competition.

Karzin’s work will be on display at the upcoming Imaging USA, to be held Jan. 22-24 in Nashville, Tenn. Imaging USA is one of the largest annual conventions and expos for professional photographers.

Photo courtesy of Kevin Karzin Photography LLC

A panel of 36 jurors from across the United States selected the top photographs from more than 5,000 total submitted entries at PPA headquarters in Atlanta. Judged against a standard of excellence, 1,926 images were selected for the Merit Collection and 1,225 (roughly 24%) were selected for the Imaging Excellence Collection, the best of the best. The Imaging Excellence Collection images will all be published in the “Excellence Collection” book by Marathon Press.

The level of the award is determined by how many of those four images receive the highest possible honor, acceptance into the PPA Loan Collection, which is displayed at photographic exhibitions, conventions and other photography contests.

Karzin was named a gold medalist, meaning that two of his four merited images entered the PPA Loan Collection. He was one of 103 gold medalists.

Founded in 1868, Professional Photographers of America is the largest and longest-standing nonprofit photography trade association. It helps 30,000 professionals elevate their craft and grow their business with resources, protection and education, all under PPA’s core guiding principle of bridging the gap between photographers and consumers.

Karzin, president of the Santa Clarita Photographers Association, formerly worked as a photojournalist for The Signal and The Associated Press.