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The 2014 Photocrati Fund Competition is Now Open

Friday, 21. March 2014 - 15:41

What is the Photocrati Fund?
The Photocrati Fund offers a $5000 grant to a photographer to undertake an important humanitarian or environmental photography project. Our goal is to identify outstanding photographers and to provide support towards projects that will have a tangible and positive effect on the world.

The 2014 Photocrati Fund competition will be open from January 30, 2014- April 18, 2014. Following that time, the applications will be judged by our panel of distinguished reviewers. The grant winner will be announced in late June 2014. The grantee will then become a Photocrati Fellow for the calendar year from the announcement of his/her award until the announcement of the following year’s award.

Award decisions will be made by the Photocrati Fund Board, a prestigious panel that includes some of the world’s best-known environmental and cultural photographers. We are still confirming 2014 judges.

Please review the guidelines below to learn about the requirements for the Photocrati Fund. Projects that do not meet requirements will not be eligible for consideration of the award. We look forward to receiving your application. Thanks for your interest in the 2013 Photocrati Fund.

Eligibility
This grant is intended for both pro and emerging photographers. The grant is open to photographers over 21 years of age from any country worldwide, but applicants should have a proven ability to produce outstanding imagery and coherent photo essays, as well as the background necessary to carry out the proposed project. This means that for photographers planning to complete a project in a country other than their own country of origin, there should be a clear demonstration of preparation for work in that country (i.e. proper visas, contacts, language training, etc.), and preferably some experience in the country or a good deal of experience and understanding of the culture and language/customs.

Application Submission Guidelines
There are no application fees for this grant. Each submission may contain only one project proposal. Each applicant may apply only once per submission cycle. Applications are not carried over to the following year. All applications must be submitted in English, online to the following email address: fund@photocrati.com. Please include the words 2014 PHOTOCRATI FUND in the subject of the email.

Please proofread to avoid typos and grammatical errors.

Only applications that meet ALL SUBMISSION CRITERIA will be judged. Once the application and proposal has been submitted, content changes are not allowed. Please double check all of your materials before submitting your application. The Photocrati Fund is not responsible for misdirected submissions. Applicants should save copies of their application for their own records.

Only applications submitted according to grant application specifications will be considered. Applicants should not send any hard copies or printed materials (no prints, books, CDs/DVDs or transparencies). The Photocrati Fund Panel will not review any of these materials, and they cannot be returned to applicants.

The application consists of just two items: a one-page project statement and bio, and a link to your online portfolio submitted via email to: fund@photocrati.com. Please include the words 2014 PHOTOCRATI FUND in the subject of your email.

A big change from previous years: In general, we do not accept links to password protected galleries, or to Flickr, Picasa, or other photo sharing sites. You should have a professional-style website. (There are many wonderful free professional-style websites available, — such as WordPress — that are easy to set up. If you want to keep your gallery separate from your other work, you can create a specific, non-public link and send that to us with your application. We occasionally make exceptions to this rule for embargoed or very sensitive projects).

Project Statement and Bio
The project statement should be 1-page, preferably as a PDF– but MSWord is acceptable, too. Please follow these formatting guidelines. It helps our judges to quickly evaluate the hundreds of applications in a systematic manner. Please label/save/title your submission using your name and/or project title (i.e. Smith2014_Rocks). This makes it easier for the staff and judges to sort and find your project.

Please include the following information, in this order, in the HEADING:
• Applicant’s Full Name;
• Project Title;
• Project Location;
• Applicant’s Email;
• Applicant’s Phone (including country code);
• Applicant’s Home Country;
• Web Address of Online Portfolio.

The personal statement should describe the proposed project in detail, including:
• Who or what will be photographed?
• Why is this project important? Include historical, environmental, or cultural background to the project as appropriate. You should display good substantive knowledge of your subject matter.
• What positive consequences might result from this project? We are interested in projects that will have a tangible impact or contribution.
• What background and preparation do you have that will enable you to carry out the project? This should include a description of your photographic training or background as well as your knowledge or training related to the subject matter of your project (i.e., language or cultural study, previous experience in the specified country or location, environmental or biological background, and contacts with a specific local organization or experts with whom you wish to work, etc).
• If the proposed project will take place in a country other than your own, please describe your preparations for working in the proposed project location (i.e. visa preparations, local contacts, health vaccinations, language training, etc.).
•How do you plan to spend the grant funds? Please include a rough budget.

Note: In our experience, many applicants underestimate the amount of time and preparation that is required to prepare a good one-page project statement. The fact that this statement is only one page means you must work even harder to make sure that all the relevant information is included in a concise and still-readable way.

The most successful statements are those that have received a great deal of work and editing. This single page is all we have to evaluate you, your preparation, and your project, so please give it special care and attention.

Link to Online Portfolio
Each applicant should include on their Project Statement and Bio a URL (web address) to an online gallery of a coherent set of 15-30 images based around a theme or project (preferably related to the project or theme/concept proposed in your application or something related, though not necessary).

Carrying out an effective photography project requires not just creative and technical mastery of photography, but also the ability to focus on a single project over time. You need to take time to develop knowledge about your subject matter, build any necessary relationships, and to invest the time to be present when the best photo opportunities present themselves. Your portfolio should display these qualities. We are not looking for a hodge-podge of individual photographs of sunsets, flowers, or travel scenes.

Images displayed in the online portfolio or website MUST BE TAKEN BY THE APPLICANT. Any applicant receiving a grant on the basis of images taken by someone else will be liable to repay the grant’s full amount to the Photocrati Fund, and will of course, forfeit the Photocrati Fund Fellow title. As with the personal statement, please recognize that the images on this site are the sole basis on which we will evaluate your photographic talent. You should display your best work.

Selection Criteria
Following the application deadline (April 18, 2014 at 11:59pm Mountain Standard Time (USA)), Photocrati Fund staff will compile all completed applications that adhere to all submission guidelines.

Photocrati Fund staff will screen applications and remove any that do not meet the application criteria or which are unlikely to be competitive. The remaining applications will be submitted to the Photocrati Fund Board for consideration.

Selection of the grantee will be based on the Board’s determination, in its sole discretion, of the following:
Photographic skill, background and promise of the applicant (in terms of photographic vision and technique) based on the applicant’s images in his/her web portfolio.

•The degree to which the applicant’s non-photographic background and training has prepared him/her to undertake the project.
•The environmental or humanitarian significance of the project and its potential positive contributions.
•The feasibility and viability of the completion of the proposed project within the projected time frame and with the grant funding.
•The quality of the overall application packet.

Notification of Award
Winners of the grant will be notified after the judging, which should be completed in late June. The grant winners may share the news with others involved with the project, but we ask to keep news of the award confidential until the public announcement in late June.

Disbursement of Funds, Project Report, Photo Essay and Deadline for Completion of Project
Photocrati Fund Grants are in the amount of $5,000. The funds are intended to help cover the costs of travel, lodging, and related expenses for roughly one-month of full time photography. The funds do not need to be spent on travel and lodging, and we certainly fund portions of on-going projects. The most important thing is that we need for you to outline how you intend to spend the funding. In general, we are interested in supporting the expenses related to the completion of the project — rather than the purchase of a large item of photographic gear.

The funds will be disbursed in two portions. Photocrati Fellows will receive $4000 up-front prior to the project. The remaining $1000 will be disbursed to the Grantee upon completion of the project and upon receipt of a Project Report/ photo essay (for the Photocrati website) from the project.

The Grantee is expected to provide a brief follow-up report/blog post/photo essay upon completion of the project that describes how the project progressed, and which provides a detailed explanation of how funds were used. Grant recipients are advised to keep conscientious records of expenses.

Along with the project report, the Fellow should submit a final photo essay of 15-30 images. These can be presented in an online gallery or sent to Photocrati Fund staff via email or FTP. These images should be 800 pixels in the longest dimension and they should be accompanied by detailed captions. The resulting photo essay will be displayed on Photocrati.com following the project completion.

The Grantee will have 12 months from the announcement of the award to complete his or her project and to provide Photocrati Fund staff with a Project Report and captioned Photo Essay.

2013 Photocrati Fund Grant Winner and Top Finalists

Source: 
www.photocrati.com
Tags: 
Photocrati Fund Grant 2014