What the Judges will Look for in your Projects

© Maria Contreras Coll, New Generation Prize Honorable Mention, 2018 Women Photographers Grant

The panel of judges is one of the key elements of any call for entries. They are the industry experts who will review your work and consider it for future opportunities, or share it with colleagues, if they see potential. They implicitly tell you how serious the call and the organisation behind it are. Plus, importantly, they assign the prizes. For these reasons, getting to know more about them, their photography vision, and their respective careers can help you better prepare your submissions.

"I'm hoping to see entries which expand the photographic canon. I want new perspectives" says Judge Ashleigh Kane, Arts & Culture Editor at Dazed, an alternative style and culture magazine launched back in 1991 that today boasts 1.4 million followers on Instagram and champions radical fashion and youth culture, defining the times with a vanguard of next generation writers, stylists and image makers.

Judge Maggie Steber, an acclaimed photographer who has worked in 64 countries focusing on humanitarian, cultural, and social stories, will likewise adopt this approach when judging the works. "I'm interested in seeing how people tell or relate old stories in a new and more contemporary way" she says. "If some issues never disappear, we have to re-interpret how we tell them so people will pay attention and not feel as though they are seeing the same photos again and again. If our photos are to do their jobs, they have to look at the old world in a new way."

© Johanna Maria Fritz, New Generation Prize Honorable Mention, 2018 Women Photographers Grant

On a different note, the importance of thinking about your photography before shooting is an aspect that will be particularly relevant for Judge Marina Paulenka, the Artistic Director at UNSEEN - a Dutch network coordinating live events year-round, a non-profit Foundation, and a biannual magazine. "I'm looking forward to seeing artworks that have a deeper background and research" she comments. "Those that reflect upon important issues and challenges of our world we live in. From personal to socio-political projects, from reality to fiction."

"I'm hoping to find stories that were never shared or stories that were shared thousands of times but from a new point of view" says instead Judge Angelica Dass, an award-winning photographer and TED Global speaker. Being creative, looking for a certain angle, and exploring the potential of photography today seems to be important also for Marina, who concludes: "I'm interested to see new ways of understanding the medium and already known topics and see how photography as a medium communicates with other media in our digital world we live in."

There is still time to apply until 10 October at phmuseum.com/grant. Reflect on this useful advice when the time comes to prepare your applications as well as when embrace new projects or develop ongoing work... and good luck!

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To learn more and apply to the PHmuseum 2019 Women Photographers Grant, please visit phmuseum.com/grant. Applicants of the 2019 Mobile Photography Prize are granted a further 20% discount per submission. All applicants are also granted a 20% discount on all Education bookings. The final deadline is set for 10 October.