April's Photography Grants and Awards

The Firecracker Photographic Grant, Arab Documentary Photography Program, Women Photograph Grants, and Prix Levallois are among the many great awards currently open for entry. Learn all about how they can support your work and career and don't miss their approaching deadlines!

The Firecracker Photographic Grant, Arab Documentary Photography Program, Women Photograph Grants, and Prix Levallois are among the many great awards currently open for entry. Learn all about how they can support your work and career and don't miss their approaching deadlines!

As a global community, we are currently facing our toughest challenge in our collective post-war history. The photography industry has been hit particularly hard amid safety concerns for those still out in the field, unprecedented budget cuts, and a worldwide travel ban that has led to the cancellation of festivals and assignments.

As part of our continued efforts here at PHmuseum to support our friends and colleagues through this crisis (see our Online Photobook Festival), we've compiled a special guide that lists awards and funding opportunities relating specifically to the impact of COVID-19. You can find that here.

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Women Photograph Grants / Deadline: 15 May / No entry fee

First established back in 2017, the Women Photograph Grants aim to elevate the exposure of female, female-identifying, and non-binary visual journalists. The first, presented in collaboration with Nikon, offers five US$5,000 endowments to support the production of photography projects – either new or in-progress – from visual journalists working in a documentary capacity. Of the five available, one will be earmarked for a non-binary or transgender photographer. Applicants are encouraged to submit a story rather than singles as part of their submission, and images need not be related to the project proposal. Multimedia works are welcomed. The jury this year features Gael Almeida (National Geographic Society), Jess Dugan (Independent Photographer), Yagazie Emezi (Independent Photographer), Emily Jan (The Atlantic), and Olivier Laurent (The Washington Post).

For the second Grant, Women Photograph has partnered with Getty Images to award US$10,000 to an undergraduate or graduate student focused on photojournalism. The scholarship can be used for tuition, camera equipment, or other education costs during the 2020-2021 school year. Applicants are not required to be majoring in photojournalism or photography and people pursuing photographic education outside the university setting, such as vocational schools, workshops, and other extended educational courses, may also apply. Determination of eligibility will be at the discretion of Women Photograph and Getty Images. Sandy Ciric (Getty Images), Sara Ickow (Women Photograph), Zahra Rasool (Al Jazeera Contrast), Haruka Sakaguchi (Independent Photographer), and Elias Williams (Independent Photographer) comprise the judging panel. Submissions must include a portfolio of 15-20 images, an essay (300 words maximum) outlining how this scholarship would be used, and proof of enrollment in a university, college, workshop, or other educational institution.

For both grants, half of the funding will be disbursed at the beginning of the project, and half upon completion. The deadline to apply is 15 May. No entry fee. Learn more at womenphotograph.com.

The Arab Documentary Photography Program / Deadline: 1 May / No entry fee

The Arab Fund for Art and Culture and the Prince Claus Fund in Amsterdam, in partnership with the Magnum Foundation in New York, launched the Arab Documentary Photography Program (ADPP) in 2014. The focus of the initiative is to support compelling non-stereotypical and unconventional visual documentation of important social issues and narratives relevant to the Arab region. In this cycle of funding, 10 grantees will each be awarded production grants of US$5,000 USD that may be used to begin a new project or to complete an existing work-in-progress.

All ADPP grantees will be required to attend two specialised workshops to help them develop and produce their projects and consider avenues for distribution. They will also further benefit from mentorship provided by top caliber industry experts including Randa Shaath (Independent Photographer), Eric Gottesman (Photographic Artist and Educator), Tanya Habjouqa (Photographer and Member of Noor), and Peter van Agtmael (Independent Photographer). Grantees’ travel and accommodation expenses during the workshops are not included in the production grant but will be covered separately by the program. The production grant does not include printing and distribution costs. The deadline for entries is 1 May. There is no submission fee. Go to arabculturefund.org for further information.

The Firecracker Photographic Grant / Deadline: 1 May / Entry fee: £8

In light of the increasingly difficult circumstances faced by the freelance photography community, this year’s Firecracker Photographic Grant is specifically tailored to support practitioners during the COVID-19 pandemic. Open solely to female and non-binary photographers, the Grant will distribute a minimum contribution of £2,000 which will be split into four individual funds of £500.

Submissions will be assessed on a combination of quality of work and artist statements, which should include an outline of how the grant will be spent. Consideration will be given to the potential impact of the grant during the current crisis and could include support for living expenses or production costs. All submitted work will be reviewed by an independent panel of industry experts that includes Rudi Thoemmes (Managing Director and Founder of RRB Photobooks), Sabina Jaskot-Gill (Curator of Photographs at the National Portrait Gallery, London), and Bindi Vora (Artist, Lecturer and Curatorial Projects Manager at Autograph ABP). The submission fee is £8 with all funding contributing to the Grant fund. The final deadline is 1 May and the recipients are set to be announced on 10 May. To learn more and apply, visit fire-cracker.org/grant.

Prix Levallois / Deadline: 2 May / No entry fee

Created in 2008, the Prix Levallois is a springboard for young international photographic creation, looking to support artists under the age of 35 working with any form of photo-based expression. “Inexorably, images keep on illustrating the world. By its quality, its suspension of time, photography is a tool of choice to question this same world” write the organisers. “All subjects and all forms are fields of investigation. Today, photography plays with its technical freedom, from analog to digital, from black and white to colours, to let the authors develop their perception. The aim of the Prix Levallois is to reward quality, originality and excellence.”

As in all the previous editions, an independent jury will assign both a Laureate Award and a Special Mention. The panel this year is composed of Philippe Ariagno (Director of La Passerelle, scène nationale des Alpes du sud, Gap), Jane Evelyn Atwood (award-winning photographer), Frédérique Chapuis (Photo critic for the editorial of the cultural magazine Télérama), Aurélia Marcadier (Director of PhotoSaintGermain Festival), and Stéphane Decreps (Deputy Mayor for Cultural Affairs for the City of Levallois). A separate Audience Award will be assigned following an online vote that gives a voice to all photography enthusiasts. The Laureate winner will receive a €10,000 Grant while the Special Mention awardee will win a DSLR camera. Photographs of the three winners will be displayed at the Galerie L’Escale in Levallois between October and November and La Passerelle, Scène nationale des Alpes du Sud, in Gap will welcome the show in December or January 2021. The final deadline is 2 May. There is no entry fee. Visit prix-levallois.com for more information.

The Ian Parry Scholarship / Deadline: 5 July / No entry fee

Created to celebrate the life and work of Ian Parry, a photojournalist who died while on assignment in 1989, this annual international photography contest has helped launch the careers of many of the finest photographers working in the profession today. It is a prize aimed solely at young photographers who are either attending a full-time photographic course or are under 24 years of age and it plays an important role in drawing attention to global issues that are often overlooked by mainstream media.

This year’s IPS is divided into two categories: The Sunday Times Award for Achievement and The Canon Award for Potential. The entry criteria for both is the same and the judging panel – which includes Sir Don McCullin and Rebecca McClelland – will be making their decision on who they feel is striving to produce visual stories that are relevant and meaningful. Each winner will be granted US$3,500 and the opportunity to attend a portfolio review day with industry experts in London, while World Press Photo will automatically accept the winner of the Achievement Award into its final list of nominees for the Joop Swart Masterclass in Amsterdam. The Canon Award for Potential also comes with a year-long mentorship program with highly respected photojournalist Jon Jones, and the awardee will be invited to take part in the Transmissions Program at Visa Pour l’Image in Perpignan later this year. Entries must be received by 5 July. Submission is free. For more information, go to ianparry.org.

AAP Magazine - Travel Photography Award / Deadline: 30 April / Entry fee: US$30+

For the 11th printed issue of AAP Magazine, the editors are calling photographers to submit work related to the theme Travels. “In these unprecedented times, while we are all staying home to reduce the spread of coronavirus, let's escape through powerful images”, they write. “We are looking for your travel photographs, near and far, to the edge of the earth and to the places perhaps known only to you. Whether you're hauling around a view camera and a tripod or just pulling a mobile phone out of your back pocket, we want to see what you've captured and how you're telling your story. There's a world out there to explore. Open your eyes to its landscapes, people, cultures - on your doorstep or 10,000 miles away. Expand our horizons.”

All genres, capture types, colour and black and white, traditional and non-traditional photographic and digital post-production processes are welcome for submission. Applications will be assessed on three criteria: creativity, originality and the visual and emotional impact of the image. Only cohesive bodies of work and portfolios will be accepted. Winners will receive US$1,000 in cash awards and their winning image(s) or full portfolio will be published in AAP Magazine Vol.11. More information can be found at all-about-photo.com.

Kuala Lumpur Photo Awards / Deadline: 31 May / No entry fee

The Kuala Lumpur Photo Awards were initiated in 2009 by a group of dedicated Malaysian photographers and supporters who sought to promote the importance of portraiture in contemporary photographic practice. “Portrait photography is vital to help us understand the human condition and in doing so, expand our minds”, writes the contest’s director, Steven Lee. “It allows us a glimpse into a distant conflict far away from home, or a thriving street community in our neighbourhood, only metres away. Often it feeds and informs us with new visuals to stories that we otherwise would not know, like the interiors of private homes, intimate moments, or greet faces and expressions of people we would never see. As a visual medium, it conveys what the photographer wants to show us, made possible through the expressive photo essay.”

Photographers of the best three single image portraits will receive US$3,000, US$1,500, and US$500 respectively and a shortlist of 40 entries will be exhibited at the ILHAM Gallery in Kuala Lumpur in September 2020 and at international festivals in Europe, Asia, and Australisia. Also, for the first time this year, KLPA is awarding US$1,000 grants to five promising photographers to help with the completion of portrait-based photo essays. All submissions will be reviewed by a judging panel comprised of Kenny Loh (Independent Photographer), Haley Morris-Cafiero (Independent Photographer and Educator), Carol Körting (Photo Editor, Leica Fotografie International - LFI Magazine), Jessica Chan (Director of Kuala Lumpur Photography Festival/Editor-in-chief, PCP Publications), and SC Shekar (Independent Photographer). The deadline to apply is 31 May. No entry fee. Visit klphotoawards.com to find out more.

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OTHER DEADLINES APPROACHING:

Landskrona Foto & Breadfield Dummy Award 2020 / Deadline: 15 April / €30

The Landskrona Foto Dummy Award will grant one winner the opportunity to have their project published by Breadfield Press and Landskrona Foto during 2021. The prize includes all expenses for book production such as design, printing and distribution, and the photographer will also receive a large number of books to distribute and sell. The winner will be invited to Landskrona Foto Festival 2020 to receive the award. Simply by entering for the contest, photographers will also be part of a slide show that will be screened during the Photobook days section of the festival.

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Canon Giovani Fotografi Award / Deadline: 22 April / No entry fee

Open solely to young Italian photographers between the ages of 18 and 35, the Canon Giovani Fotografi Award returns for its 15th edition with Tell Us a Story as the main theme. The traditional Photography Award category returns once more, the winner of which will receive tutorship sessions with industry leaders, Canon digital imaging equipment, and a place in the official exhibition program at the 2020 edition of Cortona On The Move, set to take place from 7 July to 18 October. Also, for the first time this year, Canon will be granting a special award to a student photographer as part of their efforts to help develop talent and foster creative relationships.

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Getty Images Inclusion Scholarships / Deadline: 27 April / No entry fee

In partnership with Women Photograph, Creative Access, National Association of Black Journalists, Asian American Journalism Association and the National Association of Hispanic Journalists, Getty Images is offering five scholarships each worth US$10,000 to be put toward pursuing education and in turn, helping address industry inclusion issues at the entry point – awarding today, for a better, more inclusive tomorrow. Applicants are asked to submit examples of their work, a personal essay, and additional material documenting their academic credentials.

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W. Eugene Smith Grant in Humanistic Photography / Deadline: 30 April / Entry fee: US$50

The W. Eugene Smith Grant in Humanistic Photography is presented annually to a photographer whose past work and proposed project, as judged by a panel of experts, follows the tradition of W. Eugene Smith’s concerned photography. This year, the amount of the Grant will be US$40,000, while an additional US$5,000 Grant will be dispersed as a Fellowship and two finalists deemed worthy of special recognition will each be awarded US$2,500.

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Howard Chapnick Grant / Deadline: 30 April / Entry fee: US$50

Established in 1996, the Howard Chapnick Grant looks to encourage and support leadership in fields ancillary to photojournalism, such as editing, research, education and management. The annual $10,000 endowment may be used to finance any of a range of qualified undertakings, which might include a program of further education, research, a special long-term sabbatical project, or an internship to work with a noteworthy group or individual. According to the Fund’s Board of Trustees, special consideration will be given to individuals, initiatives, organisations or projects that promote social change and/or serve significant concerns of photojournalism.

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Prix de la Photographie, Paris (PX3) / Deadline: 1 May / US$20 - US

Juried by leading editors, publishers, curators, gallery owners, consultants, creative directors, and art directors, PX3 aims to celebrate the importance of visual storytelling and provide new opportunities to emerging talents. This year, winners across the two categories – professional and non-professional – will share a cash prize pool totalling US $11,500 and select awardees will have their work showcased in an exhibition in Paris.

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Prix Virginia / Deadline: 7 May / No entry fee

Prix Virginia, awarded by the Sylvia S. Association, is open to all women photographers without regard to their nationality or the subject matter of their work. A jury comprised of eight recognised specialists in the field of visual arts will select the winner who will receive a €10,000 monetary prize. The Sylvia S. Association will also grant a Carte blanche for a Portrait de Ville edited by Be-Pôles editions for the winner or one of the 10 shortlisted photographers, and Filigranes editions will publish a book of the winner’s photographs and the 10 shortlisted photographers.

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Dorothea Lange-Paul Taylor Prize / Deadline: 15 May / US$70

First launched back in 1990, the Dorothea Lange-Paul Taylor Prize was created by the Center for Documentary Studies at Duke University to support artists, working alone or in teams, who are engaged in extended, ongoing fieldwork projects that fully exploit the relationship of words and images in the powerful, persuasive representation of a subject. The winner will receive US$10,000, features in Center for Documentary Studies’ digital publications, and inclusion in the Archive of Documentary Arts at Rubenstein Library, Duke University.

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Kassel Dummy Award / Deadline: 17 June / Entry fee: €36

Fotobookfestival Kassel has launched the 2020 edition of the Kassel Dummy Award, inviting all photographers worldwide to submit their unpublished photobook mock-ups for the chance to win exhibition and publishing opportunities in addition to monetary prizes. 50 books will be shortlisted by an independent jury and this selection will be showcased at several international photography events across both Europe and Asia. The winning book will be produced and published by Fotobookfestival Kassel’s new cooperative partner MAS, the leading Turkish photobook printing and binding house from Istanbul. Second and Third Prize winners will each get a production grant worth €2,000 and €1,000 respectively for future projects.

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Visit our awards page to get a full view of the best photography opportunities currently open for entry.