Magnum Foundation's Photography Expanded Grant: Heat

Two Oaxaca-based photographers will receive grants of 50,000 pesos each to produce and complete photographic projects aligned with the theme Heat.

Overview

Magnum Foundation in collaboration with Francisco Toledo A.C. and Centro de Artes de San Agustin, is calling for proposals from Oaxaca-based photographers working in their home region to address the topic of heat and environmental crisis. This Photography Expanded Grant will support photographers in Oaxaca whose projects focus on the topic of heat and climate crisis that reimagine what a critical and ecological photographic practice might look like.

Magnum Foundation, Francisco Toledo A.C. and Centro de Artes de San Agustin will support photography that expands the discourse around visuality, heat, and the climate crisis; and reimagines what a critical and ecological photographic practice might look like. With a priority to support photographers living and working in their own communities, they will center projects that are based on equitable relationships and interdependence among individuals, communities, and non-humans. 

Some projects they support may explore heat through the lens of climate-based migration, environmental justice movements, pollution-driven health disparities, or “natural” disasters rising from oppressive social structures; while others may consider heat as a metaphor for a motivating force that drives us toward action or the warmth of touch, and connection both within and beyond the human realm. 

In the context of rising global temperatures, this year’s theme will explore the effects of the climate crisis and the frictions between existing systems and assumptions of economic growth on one hand, and possibilities of ecological regeneration and repair on the other. Heat, like a fever, can be a symptom of a more systemic problem; the program will delve into root causes of threats to our planet, as well as potential pathways toward a paradigm of recovery.

Practical Info

Submissions must include personal details, a short bio, a CV, a one-sentence project description, a description of the project the applicants would like to focus on and creative references, a description of what is their relationship to the topic they are exploring and/or the community(ies) they are working with, and sample from their project that they will be working on.

Two photographers will receive grants of 50,000 pesos each to produce and complete photographic projects aligned with the theme. Applicants should have completed at least initial stages of their proposed projects, or have done significant research and believe they can complete the project during the 3 month grant period which ends July 31, 2025.  Applications can be in English or Spanish.

Beyond the funding support, grantees will have an opportunity to receive guidance for their projects from the Magnum Foundation team, including an in-person review of their work-in-progress in early June, when Magnum Foundation visits Oaxaca with the Heat Fellowship.

About Magnum Foundation

Magnum Foundation is a nonprofit organization that expands creativity and diversity in documentary photography, activating new audiences and ideas through the innovative use of images. Through grant making and mentorship, Magnum Foundation supports a global network of social justice and human rights-focused photographers and experiments with new models for storytelling.

Founded in 2007 by members of the Magnum Photos cooperative, Magnum Foundation was created to sustain independent visual storytelling on social issues. Since then, Magnum Foundation has made more than 250 direct grants to visual storytellers. Through production funds and project development assistance, we support both emerging and recognized artists at various stages of their processes.