Sheldon Boles Awarded Honorary Fellowship (FCAPA Hon.) and Distinguished Service Award
View Sheldon’s Award Acceptance Speech video here. Sheldon Boles joined the Canadian Association for Photographic Art (CAPA) in 2011 and wasappointed Director of Competitions in 2016. Over the next decade, he transformed CAPA’scompetitions program from a largely club-hosted operation into one of the most structured,respected, and innovative photographic competition systems in Canada. In 2017, Sheldon served on the CAPA Website Development Team, helping introduce CAPA’sonline competition platform and laying the groundwork for future growth and modernization.When camera clubs became increasingly unable to host national competitions, Sheldon assumedresponsibility for the complete administration of all CAPA competitions, overseeing every aspectof the process, including judge recruitment, pre-screening, score tabulation, awardsadministration, and policy development. Under his leadership, annual competition participationgrew dramatically, increasing from 3,116 submitted images in 2016 to more than 8,500 by2021. This increased engagement by members is truly significant to CAPA as it has led toincreases in new CAPA members and retention of existing members. Among his many accomplishments, Sheldon:• Established the CAPA Pre-Screening Committee of CAPA Judges.• Developed the CAPA Judging Summary Report, now provided to all competition judges.• Created and maintained CAPA’s Past Winners Database, which now contains more than11,000 award-winning images.• Reduced competition submission limits to improve judging efficiency and consistency.• Built and mentored a dedicated competition team of volunteers with clearly definedresponsibilities, ensuring long-term program sustainability.• Standardized competition formats and judging criteria, many of which remain in usetoday. In 2019, Sheldon accepted additional responsibilities as CAPA’s Exhibition StandardsChairperson, overseeing requests for CAPA patronage
