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PhMuseum 2025 Photography Grant

13th edition

PhMuseum 2025 Photography Grant

© Hashem Shakeri

Results

Main Prize

1st Prize
Staring Into The Abyss by Hashem Shakeri

€5,000, plus projections at Lodz Fotofestiwal 2025, Kranj Foto Fest 2025 and Verzasca Foto Festival 2025, and promotion on the PhMuseum channels.

2nd Prize
For So Many Years When I Close My Eyes by Billy H.C. Kwok

€2,000 plus projections at Lodz Fotofestiwal 2025, Kranj Foto Fest 2025 and Verzasca Foto Festival 2025, and promotion on the PhMuseum channels.

3rd Prize
Wolfcamp Catalogue by Amy Kim

€1,000 plus projections at Lodz Fotofestiwal 2025, Kranj Foto Fest 2025 and Verzasca Foto Festival 2025, and promotion on the PhMuseum channels.

"With remarkable commitment and personal risk, Hashem Shakeri spent months travelling independently across Afghanistan to create a body of work that refuses the clichés of documentary and photojournalism. Instead, he offers an intimate, poetic, and visually arresting portrait of the communities most affected by the Taliban’s return—women, ethnic and religious minorities, and LGBTQIA individuals. By drawing on a rich range of photographic languages and emotional registers, his images move fluidly between the surreal and the symbolic, the tender and the haunting. What emerges is not just a record of oppression, but a revealing, deeply human testament to resilience, resistance, and the enduring pulse of life beneath the weight of a silenced nation."
Bruno Ceschel, Independent Judge, on Hashem Shakeri's Staring Into The Abyss – PhMuseum 2025 Photography Grant 1st Prize Recipient

Results

New Generation Prize

1st Prize
Before Falling Into The Deep Valley by Zekun Wang

€2,000 plus projections at Lodz Fotofestiwal 2025, Kranj Foto Fest 2025 and Verzasca Foto Festival 2025, and promotion on the PhMuseum channels.


“Zekun Wang's work is remarkably rich, intriguing, dreamlike, curious and captivating, merging an eclectic range of artistic and photographic strategies - including evocative image-making, darkroom 'mistakes' and manipulations, layering and collage, archival investigation and appropriation, etc. - in carefully considered ways that feel genuinely intuitive, inventive and innovative. It explores the underlying themes of history, mythology, spirituality, cultural exchange, consciousness, and personal experience in a subtle yet powerful manner, and makes a striking impression on the viewer that is both immediately impactful and rewardingly long-lasting.”
Aaron Schuman, Independent Judge, on Zekun Wang's Before Falling Into The Deep Valley – PhMuseum 2025 Photography Grant New Generation Prize Recipient

Results

A Solo Exhibition at PhEST

Prize Recipient
The Anthropocene Illusion by Zed Nelson

Selected by PhEST's team, the work is granted a solo show during the 10th edition of the festival to be held in Monopoli, Italy in September 2025.

Results

A Solo Exhibition at Getxophoto

Prize Recipient
'jane Says' by Ann Shelton

Selected by Maria Ptqk, head curator of Getxophoto, the work is granted an exhibition during the 18th edition of the festival which will be held in Getxo, Basque Country, Spain in June 2025. In addition to the show production, the prize includes an artist fee of €400 and accommodation for 2 nights during the Opening Week.

Results

A Solo Exhibition at PhMuseum Lab

Prize Recipient
Eulogy by Sander Coers

Selected by PhMuseum's Director Giuseppe Oliverio and Visual Editor Camilla Marrese, the work is granted an exhibition at PhMuseum Lab, Bologna, Italy, in January 2026. The prize includes travel, stay and production costs.

Results

Participation in Photo-Match, Lodz Fotofestiwal

Prize Recipient
Wet Ground by Aria Shahrokhshahi

Selected by Krzysztof Candrowicz and Mafalda Ruao, the artist is invited to join the innovative presentation and portfolio review Photo-Match at Lodz Fotofestiwal 2025. The prize covers travel and accommodation.


Results

Shortlisted Projects Screening at International Photo Festivals

The 33 shortlisted projects of this edition will be screened at Fotofestiwal 2025, Kranj Foto Fest 2025, and Verzasca Foto Festival 2025 international photography festivals.

Namaste Or Whatever
by Aaryan Sinha

Other Joys
by Alice Poyzer

Wolfcamp Catalogue
by Amy Kim

American Glitch
by Orejarena & Stein

BLACK SNAFU
by André Ramos-Woodard

Wet Ground
by Aria Shahrokhshahi

Container
by Augustin Lignier

The Nature Of Things
by Balazs Turos

All Things Laid Dormant
by Benedetta Casagrande

For So Many Years When I Close My Eyes
by Billy H.C. Kwok

Down By The Hudson
by Caleb Stein

Bellissima
by Carla Rossi

El Gobierno Te Odia
by Christopher Gregory-Rivera

FUI-42
by Daniel Martínez

Something Was Missing Within
by Elliott Kreyenberg

Rondônia (how I Fell In Love With A Line)
by Emilio Azevedo

Staring Into The Abyss
by Hashem Shakeri

Kim Sae-Hyun
by Hyunmin Ryu

I Come Creeping
by Ian Byers-Gamber

An Anthology Of Changing Climate
by Ingmar Björn Nolting

Effigy Of Man
by Jatin Gulati

The River Is A Loom, The Thread Is A Mountain
by Joel Jimenez

Just Like Heaven Can't Wait
by Joseph Desler Costa

Don't Worry, I'm Fine
by Maryna Syrovatka

Montagna Sacra
by Nils Böddingmeier

FREEWAY TO AMERICA
by Noel Quintela

Eulogy
by Sander Coers

Angle Of Draw
by Shawn Bush

L'anabase (2025)
by Sofia Lambrou

Interwoven
by Tetsuo Kashiwada

Middle Distance
by Willie Franklin

Bye Bye Home Sweet Home
by Yuki Furusawa

Before Falling Into The Deep Valley
by Zekun Wang

About

PhMuseum 2025 Photography Grant

General Info

The PhMuseum Photography Grant is an annual initiative that recognises the importance of photography and visual storytelling.

Over the years it has grown into a leading photography prize, with previous editions having awarded work by photographers like Max Pinckers, Poulomi Basu, Jacob Aue Sobol, Diana Markosian, Alejandro Cartagena, Bieke Depoorter, Salvatore Vitale, Camille Lévêque, and Tomas van Houtryve, among many others. Now in its 13th edition, the initiative is designed to support the production and promotion of visual projects through cash prizes, exhibitions at international festivals, educational activities and exposure on online media.

The theme is open. All approaches are welcome, from traditional documentary photography to experimental ways of telling a story or sharing a concept. Applicants retain full image copyrights. You can see all the prizes and learn how to apply below, while you can check FAQs here.

Thanks for considering this opportunity and best of luck with your applications!

Prizes

Supported by

Independent jury

  • Aaron Schuman
    i

    Aaron Schuman

    Photographer, Writer and Professor

  • Sheida Soleimani
    i

    Sheida Soleimani

    Artist and Educator

  • Kim Jeong Eun
    i

    Kim Jeong Eun

    Publisher and Curator

  • Bruno Ceschel
    i

    Bruno Ceschel

    Founder of Self Publish, Be Happy

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