June's Photography Grants and Awards

The Getty Images Creative Bursaries, Slideluck Editorial Open Call, and our own Mobile Photography Prize are among the great competitions open for entry this month. Check out how they can support the development of your work and career.

The Getty Images Creative Bursaries, Slideluck Editorial Open Call, and our own Mobile Photography Prize are among the great competitions open for entry this month. Check out how they can support the development of your work and career.

PHmuseum 2020 Mobile Photography Prize / Deadline: 11 June / Entry fee: free - US$20 - US$40

The 2nd edition of our Mobile Photography Prize is dedicated to a single theme: INSIDE - Home, Family, and Community in a Historical Collective Moment. Mobile devices are the main vehicle through which we document our everyday life. We aim, therefore, to explore the current global crisis through the images you have felt natural taking throughout these past few months. Images that together can define our collective memory and become an inspiration for the world after the crisis and the generations to come.

The open call offers US$5,000 in prizes for the mobile photos of the year, inclusion in our second 200-image photobook on mobile photography, and a spot in an exhibition in Italy. Many publications will also support us in promoting the work of applicants. BuzzFeed News will publish a gallery of photos picked from the submissions; both Yogurt Magazine and GUP Magazine will feature three photographers' portfolios with GUP also offering a yearly paper subscription to each; and How To Spend It will publish another selection of images on their platform.

To participate, you are invited to enter one or more images taken with a mobile device. You can upload photos from your desktop computer, phone gallery, or Instagram library. Submissions will be reviewed by a panel comprising Francesca Marani (Vogue Italia), Kate Bubacz (BuzzFeed), Piero Percoco (Photographer) and Sarker Protick (Artist and Curator). The deadline is set for 11 June. Learn more and apply at phmuseum.com/m20.

Getty Images Creative Bursaries - Creatives in Quarantine / Deadline: 15 June / No entry fee

World leader in visual communications Getty Images has launched its latest Creative Bursaries, designed to support the worldwide creative community as they grapple with challenges posed by COVID-19. “During this time of global uncertainty, creative outlets become even more important – as a source of income, a means toward alleviating stress or an avenue to self-expression,” says Guy Merrill, Global Head of Art. “Whatever the inspiration, level of experience, chosen medium or creative field, we welcome all submissions with a view of celebrating creative expression and supporting the creative community during this challenging time.”

Submissions will be judged by an industry-leading panel of judges, after which 10 recipients will be awarded US$2,000 each for moving, entertaining, or ground-breaking creative projects created while in quarantine. Recipients will also have the opportunity to license appropriate winning work on the Getty Images and iStock websites at a 100 percent royalty rate. A portfolio of work should be submitted alongside a one-page document describing the creative individual, their sources of inspiration, and the thinking behind their work. Submissions will close on June 15 at midnight EST. No entry fee. Further information can be found at wherewestand.gettyimages.com.

Slideluck Editorial Open Call / Deadline: 30 June / Entry fee: €15

The third biennial global open call from Slideluck Editorial is themed everything is connected and looks to reflect on how the events associated with climate change are inextricably connected either with the way we live, eat, vote, consume, act upon; but also with the unjust world we live in. “Our aim is to reflect on content, aesthetics and dissemination, exploring the social role contemporary and documentary photography can have”, explain the organisers.

For the first time this year Slideluck Editorial are offering a monetary award of €1,000 and a collective exhibition as part of the prize pool. The competition’s partners will also take a multimedia projection featuring the work of the finalists to the University of the Arts London (UK), Impact.Doc (The Netherlands), Internazionale a Ferrara (Italy), Vogue Photo Festival (Italy), Lagos Photo Festival (Nigeria), Festival internacional San José Foto (Uruguay), and Gibellina Photoroad (Italy). Additional prizes include features in international magazines, portfolio reviews, branding consultancies, and Instagram takeovers.

Members of an independent jury will evaluate and select 10 projects that address contemporary challenges, issues, and perspectives related to the central theme. They will place an emphasis on the inclusion and appreciation of diverse perspectives, different cultural and geographic contexts that can provide an overview of the current situation in the global social, political, and cultural arena. There is a submission fee of €15. Entries close on 30 June.

Verzasca Foto Festival Open Call / Deadline: 15 June / No entry fee

Verzasca FOTO Festival is calling all visual storytellers to submit their projects for exhibitions and screenings at this year’s festival, set to take place from 3 to 6 September in Sonogno, Switzerland. “On the occasion of the seventh edition of the festival, we wish to reiterate our goal”, write the curators. “Through outdoor exhibitions immersed in nature, we aim to bring together people who have had different views and different experiences in the woods. There are many forms of interacting with the woods, either by making it your source of livelihood, by exploiting it or just to get pleasure out of it. Human beings are the only species on the planet that destroys and then recreates woods, altering their nature.”

Applicants must submit a single image or a series in which the relation of humans with woods is reflected in the pictures (stories, moments or portraits of livelihood, exploitation, leisure, contemplation). Selected photographers will receive full board and lodging in Sonogno for the duration of the festival in addition to free portfolio reviews with international experts and the opportunity to present their work in public presentation. No entry fees apply. The final deadline is 15 June. More information can be found at verzascafoto.com.

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OTHER DEADLINES APPROACHING:

Art Jameel Fund / Deadline: 7 June / No entry fee

In response to the challenges arising from the COVID-19 pandemic and its effects on the arts and creative sector, Art Jameel – an innovative contemporary arts centre in Dubai – has introduced a research and practice platform for independent practitioners. The program is intended for those who work on a per-project basis and whose practices have been affected by program cancellations and project changes, locally or globally. The US$1,000 to US$2,000 micro-fees offered through the platform will further the development of ongoing and upcoming research and projects over the coming months. The initiative is open to all practitioners based in the Middle East and North Africa region. Some projects showing exceptional scope and need may be awarded an extended allocation of up to US$3,000 (based on budget given in the application and jury discretion).

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TPA/RPS Environmental Bursary / Deadline: 8 June / No entry fee

The Royal Photographic Society in partnership with The Photographic Angle is offering a one-year bursary to support a photographic project that will promote environmental awareness. Applications are invited from anyone living or studying in the United Kingdom with a talent for taking photographs and an interest in the environmental concerns that we face today. The bursary will provide £3,000 to assist with travel expenses, photographic equipment, and other project-related costs. RPS/TPA are looking for a creative interpretation of the subject as well as documentary and editorial photography. In addition to the funding you will also have your portfolio printed by Metro Imaging and a portfolio review with their Creative Director Prof Steve Macleod.

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Dorothea Lange-Paul Taylor Prize / Deadline: 9 June / 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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The Ian Parry Scholarship / Deadline: 5 July / No entry fee

Aimed solely at young photographers who are either attending a full-time photographic course or are under 24 years of age, this competition plays an important role in drawing attention to untold global issues. This year’s IPS is divided into two categories: The Sunday Times Award for Achievement and The Canon Award for Potential. Prizes across the two contests include cash grants, portfolio review days with industry experts in London, automatic nomination into World Press Photo's Joop Swart Masterclass, and a year-long mentorship program with highly respected photojournalist Jon Jones.

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Prix Virginia / Deadline: 9 July / 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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LagosPhoto Open Call - Home Museum / Deadline: 31 July / No entry fee

LagosPhoto is inviting all photographers to submit work for an online exhibition, the idea of which is to “shine your eyes” on our homes as if they were museums. “As we go about our busy lives, we often forget the small things worth preserving - what we are calling "objects of virtue" - objects that are important to each person, family and home,” writes the festival’s director Azu Nwagbogu. To participate, all you need to do is photograph a personal selection of these "objects of virtue". During LagosPhoto20, set to take place in Lagos, Nigeria later this year, a "Home Museum" will be exhibited digitally.

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Lucie Photo Book Prize / Deadline: 31 July / Entry fee: US$35 - US$55

The Lucie Photo Book Prize, run by the Lucie Foundation, aims to support photographers in the production and promotion of their photobooks through monetary prizes and exposure opportunities. The contest is divided into two separate awards - the Traditional Prize (worth US$3,000) and the Independent Prize (worth US$2,000). The Traditional Prize will be awarded to a photographer, editor, curator or publisher whose book is commercially produced and distributed, while the Independent Prize will be granted to a photographer, editor, curator or publisher whose book is published and distributed independently.

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

© Eugene Schemilin
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© Eugene Schemilin

© Nolwenn Le Flanchec. 2019 Getty Images Creative Bursary Third Prize winner
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© Nolwenn Le Flanchec. 2019 Getty Images Creative Bursary Third Prize winner

© Maria Contreras Coll. 2018 Slideluck Editorial winner
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© Maria Contreras Coll. 2018 Slideluck Editorial winner

© Jessica Wolfelsperger
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© Jessica Wolfelsperger

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