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7th edition

PhMuseum 2023 Women Photographers Grant

© Alexandra Polina

$11,000 in cash plus a solo show at PhMuseum Lab, screenings at Photo Vogue Festival, and more

The PhMuseum Women Photographers Grant, now in its 7th edition, aims to empower the work and careers of female and non-binary professionals of all ages and from all countries working in diverse areas of photography. Its mission is to support the growth of the new generations and promote stories narrated from a female perspective, while responding to the need to work for gender equality in the industry.

To participate, you are invited to submit one or more projects centred around a specific theme, narrative or concept. All approaches are welcome from classic to more experimental projects, and you can present more than one work. By applying you retain full copyright or your images at all times, and we’ll ask for your permission to share them on our social media channels.

The judging will happen between October and November with the shortlist to be announced just before Photo Vogue Festival. Thanks for considering this opportunity and good luck with your applications!

  • Deadline 12 October 2023
  • Entry fee $35
  • Prizes
    • $11,000 in cash prizes
    • A Solo Exhibition at PhMuseum Lab
    • A Featured Interview on Vogue Italia
    • 6 Free Online Portfolio Reviews from PhMuseum Education
    • Up to 9 Honorable Mentions and 40 Shortlisted Projects
  • Judges
    • Anna Goldwater Alexander
      Director of Photography at WIRED
    • Bindi Vora
      Visual Artist and Curator at Autograph
    • Holly Roussell
      Curator at UCCA & Guest Curator at Paris Photo Curiosa
    • Taous Dahmani
      Curator of Louis Roederer Discovery Award at Les Rencontres d’Arles & The Eyes Magazine Editor
  • Regular deadline 12 October 2023
  • Supported by

Prizes

  • $11,000 in cash prizes

  • A Solo Exhibition at PhMuseum Lab

    PhMuseum's Director Giuseppe Oliverio and Curator Rocco Venezia will select a project among all of the submissions to be exhibited at PhMuseum Lab, Bologna Italy in 2024. The prize includes travel, accomodation and production costs. Former prize recipients include Maria Lax, Sayuri Ichida and Sara Bastai.
  • A Featured Interview on Vogue Italia

    Alessia Glaviano (Head of Global PhotoVogue and Director PhotoVogue Festival) and Franscesca Marani (Senior Photo Editor Vogue Italia) will select a submission for an online featured interview on Vogue Italia
  • 6 Free Online Portfolio Reviews from PhMuseum Education

    Our team will select 6 photographers from all the applicants, who will be granted a 60-minute online portfolio review with a mentor of their choice from the PhMuseum Education program.
  • Up to 9 Honorable Mentions and 40 Shortlisted Projects

    All the shortlisted works will be projected at Photo Vogue Festival 2023 and promoted on the PhMuseum platform and social media accounts in the coming months. Judges will also assign honorable mentions to highlight projects they highly took into consideration.

Independent jury

  • Anna Goldwater Alexander

    Director of Photography at WIRED

  • i

    © Zöe Maxwell

    Bindi Vora

    Visual Artist and Curator at Autograph

  • Holly Roussell

    Curator at UCCA & Guest Curator at Paris Photo Curiosa

  • i

    © Lynn S.K

    Taous Dahmani

    Curator of Louis Roederer Discovery Award at Les Rencontres d’Arles & The Eyes Magazine Editor

How to apply

1. Create your PhMuseum account

Click on Apply Now button to start your submission and follow the guided process. You’ll be asked to create an account/login.

2. Fill out the form and pay the entry fee

Upload between 5 and 20 photos (JPG or PNG format, maximum 5MB each). The ideal resolution is 72dpi with at least 1000px on the shortest side. If you present more than a project, please create separate submissions.

3. Submit your work before the deadline

Check all the info and submit your project. If you apply before the Early Bird Deadline, you can modify it within 48 hours from that deadline. If you apply later, you can modify it until the Final Deadline. The results will be announced before November. To submit another project, click again on Apply Now.

Apply now
“I am thrilled to be on the jury of the prestigious PhMuseum Women Photographers Grant and look forward to seeing your projects that may challenge our perceptions of the everyday, sharing stories that may provoke questions around collective responsibility, empowerment and the nuances of our own personal his/her stories adapting new forms of representation through the medium and beyond.”
Bindi Vora, Judge

Past editions

i

Fever Dream © Victoria Jung

FAQ

  • Do I retain full rights on my photographs?

    Yes, you retain full copyright at all times. By applying you just grant us a license to publish your work in the Grant’s results page and for promotion of future editions of our grants program. In both cases, we will get in touch with you to inform you. For more info, please check the Grant's Terms and Conditions.

  • Do I need model releases for my photos?

    That passage of the T&C is necessary to point out that we are not liable in case one of the subjects portrayed in your work complains and/or even starts legal actions against us because he/she did not consent to that photo. For this reason, we will not ask for the model releases, unless those kind of situations arise. Bearing that in mind, please feel free to apply, unless you think there might be any risks in that sense. For more info, please read our Terms and Conditions.

  • How many photos shall I upload?

  • What are the recommended photo dimensions and file sizes?

    The maximum size allowed is 5MB, yet we recommend you upload lighter files in a good resolution since our platform is programmed to automatically compress to make the navigation faster. As a reference, we suggest you to upload a file where the resolution is 72 dpi with at least 1000px on the shortest side, and weighting around 2MB. This will also speed up the upload process.

  • Which are the allowed photos' format?

    You can upload photos in JPG and PNG format. TIFF, GIF, and other formats are currently not allowed.

  • How do I select the submission cover photo?

    You can select the cover photo of your submission at the moment of uploading the photos of your submission. Please notice that it can be cropped into a squared format, for the shortlists and results announcement.

  • What do you mean for text? How shall I prepare it?

    The text shall be a description of your project in which you explain its concept/story and provide all the relevant information. There is no character limit, yet we recommend you to stay within 500 words. We also recommend you to explain briefly what the project is about in the first paragraph. Then develop the concept/story in the next 2-3-4 paragraphs, trying to be exhaustive yet clear and succinct. The judges will review several projects per day, so helping their work will be an advantage for you.

  • Why is there an entry fee? How much it is?

    As an independent orgazation with no donors no sponsor behind, we need the entry fee to run the open call (human resources, technological infrastructure, judges, etc…). The entry fee also invites applicants to take the submissions seriously. For this edition, the entry fee is €24 until 21 September at 11:59pm and €30 until 12 October at 11:59pm (GMT time) or the related amount indicated in USD and GBP, unless differently displayed on the open call landing page.

  • How can I pay the entry fee?

    Currently, the accepted methods are Credit/Debit cards, Apple Pay and PayPal.

  • How do I know my project was successfully submitted?

    You will see a confirmation message just after completing the payment, and receive a confirmation email at the email address associated with your PhMuseum account. You will also see a copy of your submission in the Submissions section of your PhMuseum profile. If you grant us the permission to share the submission as Featured Submission on social media, you will also see a copy of your submission in your PhMuseum's Account. You can edit its privacy settings or any other info from the Posts section.

  • Where can I download the invoice for my submission?

    You can always download it from the link you will find in the submission confirmation email. Alternatively you can go Orders section of your PhMuseum's Account - just be sure to have logged in, then you can find it from the menu in the top right corner.

  • How many projects can I submit?

    There is no limit to the number of projects you can present, yet you need to create a separate submission for each one of them.

  • Do you allow diptych, triptych, or multiple images layouts?

    Sure, you are welcome to upload diptychs, triptychs, and multiple images. The important thing is to respect the limit of 20 uploads/files per entry. Just to be clear, a diptych or triptych count for 1 upload/file.

  • Can I edit my application after submission?

    If you apply before the Early Bird Deadline, you can modify it within 48 hours from that deadline. If you apply later, you can modify it until the Final Deadline.

  • What happens if I edit the project in my profile, after having submitted it to the Grant?

    When you successfully complete your application, we store it in the judges' review system. At the same time, we create a copy into your PhMuseum profile. You can edit the latter, yet those changes will not affect your Grant's submission.

  • Can I make my submission private?

    Your submission is always private unless you are shortlisted for or awarded a prize. When you apply though, we can create a copy of your submission as a public post in case you select that option - so that our community of photographers, photo editors, and curators can also enjoy it. If you change your mind, you can provisionally remove it from the public website and put it into Draft mode. To do so, after you have successfully submitted your project to the Grant, go to the Posts section of your profile, and click the edit button of the content you want to modify. Once in edit mode, you will be able to untick the “Public on the website” option at the bottom of the page. This makes the post a draft, and you will be the only one who can see it. Please note that this change does not affect your Submission, stored in the Grant Review System.

  • Are collaborative projects accepted?

    Yes, collaborative projects are accepted under the condition that at least 50% of the team is composed of female and/or non-binary photographers.

  • Can I present a work already submitted to a previous edition?

    Yes, the independent panel of judges has changed from the previous editions, and they will assign the prizes according to their own criteria. So you’re welcome to present again the same project.

  • Is the online payment procedure secure? Do you store any credit card details?

    We do not take or store any payment details on our servers. Our payments are securely processed via Stripe, a widely recognized service through which we accept payments. Here you can learn more about their security procedures: https://stripe.com/docs/security/stripe. Alternatively you can also pay with Paypal.

  • What shall I do if I can’t login to my account?

    Please double check your email and password combination. If your browser automatically fills your username, please insert the email address associated to your account instead. Should you still have issues, drop us a line at support@phmuseum.com.

  • How do I recover my password?

    In order to recover your password please go to https://phmuseum.com/password/reset and follow the guided steps to reset your password.Please notice that the Reset Password link you will receive to your email account expires after 60 minutes for security matters. In that case you will need to ask for a new one always at https://phmuseum.com/forgot-password https://phmuseum.com/forgot-password.

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