Arab Documentary Photography Program

Recognising the power of the image to document, educate and advocate, the ADPP promotes creative photography practices in the Arab region and encourages the transmission of critical, socially engaged and local stories.

Overview

The Arab Fund for Arts and Culture and the Prince Claus Fund in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, in partnership with the Magnum Foundation in New York City, USA, launched the Arab Documentary Photography Program (ADPP) in 2014, a program that every year focuses on nurturing free expression, amplifying unheard narratives, and raising the level of creative documentary photography in the Arab region.

Over the past nine years, the Arab Documentary Photography Program has been dedicated to supporting unconventional, compelling, non-stereotypical visual documentation of social issues and narratives relevant to the Arab region. 

On the occasion of the program’s tenth cycle anniversary, a new grant will be offered, the Arab Documentary Photography Program Alumni Fellowship. As the ADPP continues to support emerging photographers from the region, the Fellowship is committed to accelerating the careers of the program alumni by providing them with the support and resources they need while facilitating further regional and international exchanges between established and emergent photographers.

Practical Info

All applications must include 10–20 images with captions from the initial stages of the proposed project as well as images from any single body of work that demonstrates the applicant’s ability as a photographer and a visual storyteller.

The program supports up to 8 photographers with a $7.000 grant and a mentorship program to work on their documentary photography projects. The grant may be used to begin a new project or to complete work on an existing project. In addition, ADPP grantees will benefit from mentorship provided by distinguished program mentors and will be required to attend specialized workshops to help them develop and produce their projects and consider avenues for distribution.

Documentary photographers from, living and working in the Arab region are encouraged to apply. They may propose to work in a range of non-fiction narrative styles, from classic documentary photography to more experimental visual storytelling, and may propose to include audio and video elements.

About The Arab Fund for Arts and Culture - AFAC

The Arab Fund for Arts and Culture - AFAC was founded in 2007 through the initiative of Arab cultural activists as an independent foundation to support individual artists, writers, researchers, intellectuals, as well as organizations from the Arab region working in the field of arts and culture.