July Awards Guide

Learn all about the prizes and deadlines of the most interesting awards and opportunities open this month, including the Gomma Grant, the Aaron Siskind Foundation IPF, and the Arnold Newman Prize.

Learn all about the prizes and deadlines of the most interesting awards and opportunities open this month, including the Gomma Grant, the Aaron Siskind Foundation IPF, and the Arnold Newman Prize.

Gomma Grant

The Gomma Grant is an international competition that aims to sustain the practice of photographers by funding their shooting, and working expenses, through cash endowments and other supportive initiatives. Since its foundation in 2004, Gomma has gained a reputation for promoting emerging photographers, oftentimes completely unknown within the industry, applying a strict meritocratic approach to judging. “Gomma's editorial staff enjoys entering into uncharted territory to spot fresh, new talent and to support them so that they can receive appropriate recognition” say the Grant organisers.

This year, a jury comprised of Caroline Hunter (Picture Editor at The Guardian), Diane Smyth (Executive Editor of The British Journal of Photography), Enrico Stefanelli (Founder of PhotoLux Festival), Joao Linneu (Founder and curator of VOID), Luca Desienna (Mentor at Gomma), Peggy Sue Amison (Artistic Director of East Wing), and Stephane Charpenter (Curator of TempsZero) will award a 1st, 2nd, and 3rd prize, worth €1000, €500, and €100 respectively. An Honorable Mention and six other prizes, namely Best Colour Documentary, Best Black and White Documentary, Best Colour Picture, Best Black and White Picture, Best Daily Life Story and Best Rising Talent will also be granted, each coming with a €100 cash award.

Early Bird Deadline: 31 August (Entry fee: €10). Final Deadline: 31 October (€25). Learn more at gommagrant.com.

The Aaron Siskind Foundation Individual Photographer's Fellowship

The Aaron Siskind Foundation is offering a limited number of Individual Photographer’s Fellowship Grants - each worth up to $10,000 - for photographers demonstrating a serious commitment to their work, who are professionally active or employed in the field. Recipients will be determined by a panel of judges based on “artistic excellence, accomplishment to date, and the promise of future achievement in the medium in its widest sense.”

Submitted work must be still photography regardless of subject matter, genre, or process. The use of the lens must be pivotal, and applications should consist of a mature, coherent body of work. Only citizens and legal permanent residents of the United States, who reside in the U.S. and who are at least 21 years of age, can apply. Deadline: 14 July. Entry fee: $20. For more information, visit aaronsiskind.org/grant.

Arnold Newman Prize for New Directions in Photographic Portraiture

Established by the Arnold and Augusta Newman Foundation in 2009, The Arnold Newman Prize is awarded annually to a photographer demonstrating “a compelling new vision in the genre of portraiture.” The award is designed to assist the winner in the continuing pursuit of stories, and serve as a platform from which they can launch the next phase of their career.

All jurying will be done anonymously, with submissions to be judged on originality, overall impact, artistic merit, technical excellence, and uniqueness of vision. The winner will receive $20,000 and an exhibition in New York City. Applications should be comprised of a cohesive group of 12 images that are all a part of a single project, portfolio, or series focused on photographic portraiture, and an artist statement no longer than 500 words. The call for entries will close on 15 September. There is a $55 entry fee per submission. Go to mainemedia.edu/newman to find out more.

Firecracker Photographic Grant

First launched back in 2012, the annual Firecracker Photographic Grant offers funding for a female photographer born or residing in Europe, to help with the completion of a documentary photographic project. Through a combination of self-initiated fundraising and with the support of Genesis Imaging, the Grant comes with a minimum financial endowment of £2,000 plus credit of professional printing, mounting and framing services from Genesis Imaging.

The award will be granted to a photographer based on both the strength of their visual portfolios and the artist statement submitted. Applications will be judged by a panel of industry experts, including Fariba Farshad (Director Candlestar and Co-Founder, Photo London), Emma Lewis (assistant curator at Tate Modern), Tristan Lund (art consultant and dealer), and Johanna Neurath (Design Director and a Commissioning Editor at Thames & Hudson).

Submissions are subject to a £10 application fee and all money received will form part of the total Grant amount. Deadline: 1 August. Go to fire-cracker.org/grant to apply.

Pano Awards

Now in their 8th year, the Epson International Pano Awards are dedicated to showcasing the work of both professional and amateur panoramic photographers. The prize pool this year is worth over $50,000.

In the Open competition (open to all the photographers), the winning prize package totals just over $11,200, consisting of $3000 cash, Triple Scoop Music vouchers, and the latest printing equipment. The winners of the three special awards – the Carolyn Mitchum Award, Epson Digital Art Prize, and the Curator’s Award – will each be granted $5,000, $1,000 and $1,000 respectively. A host of other smaller awards including Highest Scoring Aerial Image, Highest Scoring Film Capture, and Highest Scoring Gigapixel Image are also open. Submission fee: $22 per image.

The Amateur competition (open to non-professional / amateur and student photographers only) has a 1st Place prize package totaling $7,250, while the Runner-up will receive a total prize value of $2,500. Submission fee: $18 per image.

There is an early bird discount (20% off) ending 9 July when you enter five or more images in either the Open or Amateur competition at the same time. The final deadline is 23 July. Find out more at thepanoawards.com.

Tokyo International Photography Festival 2017 Competition

The Tokyo International Photography Competition aims to discover new photographic talent from around the world and offer an opportunity to both Japanese photographers trying to enter international markets, and those wanting to present and exhibit their work in Japan. The theme of the competition this year is borders. “To put it simply, borders primarily enforce boundaries, minimising - if not eliminating - grey areas” say TIPC. “They can indicate physical lines separating political and/or geographic regions. We encourage you to consider the concept of borders as both physical barriers and intangible perimeters” they add.

A panel of 10 jurors will review all applications and select eight photographers whose work will be exhibited as part of a travelling exhibition that will appear in Tokyo, New York, and a number of other host cities set to be announced. Submission Deadline: 31 July. Entry Fee: US$40 per series of up to 5 images. Go to tokyophotocompetition.com for more information.

The Unseen Dummy Award

International photography platform, Unseen and publishing company, Lecturis have come together once more to award and showcase the dummies of innovative photographers and designers. 50 shortlisted photobooks will be pre-selected for exhibition at Unseen 2017 (22 - 24 September). A jury comprised of leading industry figures will then convene on the opening day of the festival to select five finalists and the winning dummy, which shall be published next year and presented at Unseen Photo Fair 2018.

Submissions must be a physical photobook dummy, and may not be (self-)published or offered for (pre)sale prior to the award. There is a limit of one book entry per candidate, to be completed via the online application form. Deadline 1 August. Administration fees apply. Visit unseenamsterdam.com to learn more.

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Every month we curate a list of what is coming up in the world of photography awards. Aimed at early, mid-career, and professional photographers, this list offers details of the most exciting opportunities. To stay up to date, subscribe to our newsletter by registering your email address in the space at the bottom of this page.

© Arko Datto, from the series, Will my mannequin be home when I return (2016, 3rd place winner)
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© Arko Datto, from the series, Will my mannequin be home when I return (2016, 3rd place winner)

© Bryan Schutmaat, from the series, Grays the Mountain Sends
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© Bryan Schutmaat, from the series, Grays the Mountain Sends

© Sian Davey, from the series, Looking for Alice (2016 winner)
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© Sian Davey, from the series, Looking for Alice (2016 winner)

© Lua Ribeira, from the series, Noises in the Blood (2015 winner)
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© Lua Ribeira, from the series, Noises in the Blood (2015 winner)

© Alex Noriega (2016 Open Photographer of the Year) 
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© Alex Noriega (2016 Open Photographer of the Year) 

© Magdalena Sole, from the series, The Delta (2016 featured photographer)
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© Magdalena Sole, from the series, The Delta (2016 featured photographer)

© Dieter De Lathauwer, from the book, I Loved My Wife (Killing Children is Good for the Economy)
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© Dieter De Lathauwer, from the book, I Loved My Wife (Killing Children is Good for the Economy)

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