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I found this article that I totally agree with regarding awards:

https://fstoppers.com/originals/does-being-award-winning-photographer-actually-carry-any-merit-these-days-323205

Joe

Interesting article and must say I agree too.

The world of professional photography has seen a massive upheaval since the advent of digital imaging and especially smart phones that are increasingly able to take stunning photos and unlike cameras, everyone almost always has one on their person no matter where they are.

We recently had the happy problem of picking two wedding photographers for events in the family and not knowing any one personally, we had to rely on their website and sample photos. I must say, in the final analysis, apart from the photos, it was indeed the bio of the photographers including past awards and accolades that made the difference.

In the world of nature photography, team leaders may not need to worry so much about awards as their business thrives mainly by word of mouth and from repeat guests. But it does make a good selling point for new clients. 

Finally, I have never understood how these images are judged, some would be thrown out of my own portfolio as the focus is blurry or a major part of the animal is cut off or there are too many distractions. And yet they seem to satisfy the needs of the jury. Seems like they are looking for a new take on the same thing, the more outre' the better.

Pradeep

Awards may be fine for something like sports such as track and field where there are defined criteria in which if you beat you can receive an award. Or if you are the first out of a group of ten others competing you can receive a blue ribbon. I place photography in the category of creative arts. I know others may not and might view it as something other than a creative endeavor. For this reason, I firmly feel an award in photography is completely meaningless. Who decides on the award and why is nothing more than an arbitration among a few people.

Furthermore, if a photographer boast of awards to him or herself as some sort of achievement I have always seen this as nothing more than narcissism. When choosing between photographer "A" who boast of awards or photographer "B" how boasts of no awards I would almost certainly go with "B".