Deloitte's Photo Grant 2025

The awards include a solo exhibition and €40,000 for the Nomination Section winner, and a Triennale exhibition mention and €20,000 for project execution for the Open Call Section winner, leading to a future exhibition.

Overview

The theme of the 2025 edition of the Deloitte’s Photo Grant is dedicated to exploring the gap between equality and inequality, referencing the various contradictory aspects inherent in contemporary societies. Among these, the most striking point of friction lies in the moral disparity we experience daily: our social fabric is marked by wealth controlled by an inaccessible elite, while a significant portion of the world’s population lives in extreme hardship. To make matters worse, national constitutions, deeply rooted in ideological foundations, are built upon a principle of balance based on mutual respect. However, this principle still appears far from universal applicability, as it is continuously undermined by the many forms of discrimination that increasingly affect minorities.

With this premise, the theme Contrast is not limited to economic disparities alone but extends its scope to include the spectrum of civil rights. In this regard, the Deloitte’s Photo Grant aims to visually document the daily struggles for human rights (for everyone, with no exceptions) while also rejecting all forms of discrimination. Through the language of photography, the initiative seeks to give a voice to those who are often unheard, creating the conditions for an open and free space for dialogue—where images can play a fundamental role in fostering a meaningful conversation on an urgent and relevant issue.

Nomination Section

Ten Nominators, i.e. prominent figures from the world of international cultural production, have been identified for this section, including Cristina De Middel, Francesca Malgara, Timothy Keating, Anne Morin, Steven Lee, Johan Vikner, Joan Foncuberta, Chiara Baldelli Nonino, Gabriel Bauret, and Lekgetho Makola. They will each be asked to submit two works each by a professional photographer of their choice.

The professional photographers in question will be expected to produce an unpublished work featuring a photographic corpus of at least 25 images related to the theme of the Call for Submissions, i.e. a personal interpretation of the Contrast theme. Each photographic work must be submitted together with a motivational letter, the professional photographer's CV, and an accompanying text by the Nominator, motivating the submission.

The images that form the portfolio may address any topic, territory, people, situations; they can feature existing places, artificially recreated places, landscapes; they can be real or fictional, concrete or abstract. The images may also include people, providing that the author has obtained all the relevant authorisations and disclaimers required for participation. The images forming the portfolio must be consistent with the theme. Unpublished work is intended as work that has never been published and/or exhibited in a complete and definitive form (for example, but not limited to: a book cannot have been produced, and the corpus of images being submitted must include new images in addition to images that may have already been exhibited).

The winner of this section will hold a solo exhibition at Triennale Milan from November 2025. The exhibition will also feature a catalogue, together with a cash award of €40,000.

The deadline for this section is set for 30 May.

Open Call Section

All amateur and professional photographers who have not yet turned 35 at the time of participation can participate in the open call category. Entrants are required to submit an idea for a project related to the theme of the Award, and consisting of a description of the project for a maximum of 1,500 characters and a budget estimate of the project itself for a maximum of 1,500 characters, both to be entered in the respective fields of the participation form. The images that make up the portfolio of 10 photos (for a maximum of 10MB and in jpg, pdf or tiff format) can relate to both the project idea itself (which thanks to the Prize can be expanded and extended), and other projects. The photographs must be unpublished and must not have been awarded in other competitions or made public during other events. Images produced with AI will be accepted as long as it is explicitly stated in the accompanying text that they have been created this way. Submissions must also include the photographer's CV, a profile photo, and a reference letter written and signed by a leading personality from the field of photography, i.e. curator, gallery owner, photo editor or museum director.

The most deserving project idea will receive a mention in the Triennale exhibition dedicated to the winner of the Nomination Section and €20,000 (before any taxes and/or withholding tax where applicable, which shall in all cases be borne by the winner) towards executing his or her project idea. The result of this work will be an exhibition, of up to 30 works, during the next edition of the Award.

The jury comprises professionals from the world of photography and from the general field of the culture of images: photojournalists, authors, editors, museum directors, curators and art directors, including Denis Curti (Artistic Director), Guido Borsani (Chairman of the Italian Deloitte Foundation), Davide Monteleone (Photographer and Researcher), Erik Kessels (Artist and Curator), Diane Dufour (Founding director of LE BAL Paris), Felix Hoffmann (Artistic Director of Foto Arsenal Wien), George Tatge (Photographer), Giovanna Calvenzi (Curator, Photo Editor and Photography Consultant - Triennale Milano), Mario Calabresi (Journalist and Author), and Karin Kaufmann (General Representative Leica Galleries International).

The deadline for this section is set for 30 June.

About Deloitte's Photo Grant

Deloitte’s Photo Grant, established in 2023 by Deloitte Italy S.p.A. S.B., under the patronage of Fondazione Deloitte ETS, is a project developed in association with Black Camera, a webzine and organisation that covers the full spectrum of photography and develops corporate and communication projects for institutions and businesses.