Best Contests and Grants for Photojournalists

Photojournalists find it more and more difficult to find ways to finance their reportages. Applying for artist grants is a great way for photographers to complement their income to ease the financial burden that often comes as part of being a photojournalist. These grants help artists develop their projects with more freedom and help them dedicate their full attention to their creativity. Grants are usually very competitive but when awarded it gives the selected photographers not only financial relief but also recognition.

Grants and funding for artists are key to help photographers pursue their visions, their dreams, their projects. Here's a quick look at a few grants worth considering if you are looking for a way to finance your work. Each one has a different deadline and different requirements, make sure that you read all the requirements before submitting a complete application. We have listed here the major photo contests that could be interesting for photojournalists and documentary photographers. Some are currently open, others closed. Check each one of them to see if you are eligible. Themes and requirements vary from one another.

Fondation Carmignac: Carmignac Photojournalism Award

In 2009, while media and photojournalism faced an unprecedented crisis, Edouard Carmignac created the Carmignac Photojournalism Award to support photographers in the field.

Directed by Emeric Glayse, it funds annually the production of an investigative photo reportage on human rights violations, geostrategic issues in the world.

Selected by an international jury, the laureates receive a €50,000 grant to carry out a 6-month field report with the support of the Fondation Carmignac, which produces, upon their return, a travelling exhibition and the publication of a monograph. At the end of each edition, four photographs bequeathed by the laureates are included in the Carmignac collection.



World Press Photo

The annual contest recognizes and celebrates the best visual journalism produced over the last year. An independent jury selects the prize-winning photographs and productions.
The annual photo contest rewards photographers for the best single exposure pictures contributing to the past year of visual journalism.
Whether entered as singles or stories, these pictures are judged in terms of their accurate, fair, and visually compelling insights about our world.

The contest is organized into categories, and judged by a jury comprising leading photojournalism professionals. The membership of the jury changes every year, and is led by a chair and supported by two secretaries who implement the rigorous judging procedures. The jury, chair, and secretaries are independent of the World Press Photo Foundation. The staff, board, and partners of the World Press Photo Foundation cannot direct the jury's decisions.

Awards
The prize-winning photographs are assembled into an exhibition that travels to 45 countries and is seen by more than 4 million people each year. The winning pictures are also published in the yearbook, which is available in multiple languages, and can be purchased in our store.
The winners of The World Press Photo of the Year and The World Press Photo Story of the Year awards will receive €10,000 each. This means all contest winners will share in prizes totaling more than €130,000 in value.

All nominees are brought to Amsterdam in April to receive their prize at the annual Awards Show. This takes place just before the World Press Photo Festival, an event to which winners are invited, featuring photographer presentations, screenings and talks. Read more about the prizes.



Lucas Dolega Award

This award is intended for freelance professional photographers. Its aim is to support and accompany them and their work, done in risky zones and under difficult conditions to ensure free and independent information. The award is meant to reward a photographer who, through his or her personal commitment, involvement in the field, as well as the quality of his or her work, will have been able to testify to his or her attachment to the freedom of information. The prize is 10,000 Euros.


Sony World Photography Awards

Photographer of the Year receives $25,000 (USD), a range of Sony digital imaging equipment and inclusion of their work in the Sony World Photography Awards exhibition at Somerset House, London. There are several categories including Documentary Projects.


Visa Pour L'Image: Camille Lepage Award

The award will provide support and encouragement fora photojournalist committed to a long-term project. Prize 8,000 Euros

Visa Pour L'Image: Humanitarian Visa d'Or Award

The ICRC Humanitarian Visa d’or Award, founded in 2011, is an annual award, for a professional photojournalist who has covered a humanitarian issue related to a situation of armed conflict. The subject chosen this year is urban warfare and the impact on civilians, either trapped and hiding or forced to flee.

Visa Pour L'Image: Canon Female Photojournalist Grant

The Canon Female Photojournalist Grantis presented to a female photojournalist in activity who wishes to cover a social, economic, political or cultural subject in a journalistic manner, on presentation of a dossier, including the documents and works stipulated in Article 5. 8,000 Euro Grant.



Festival della fotografia etica: World.Report Award.

The projects submitted must be in the field of social photojournalism and documentary reportage: the stories of men and women, the events of society and the changes of humanity.
Master Award: 3,000 Euros, Spot Light Award: 2,500 Euros, Short Story Award: 1,500 Euros.


Getty Images: Reportage Grant

Our dedication to excellence in photojournalism means we understand that creating and managing in-depth photography assignments requires time, freedom, support and considerable resources. The Getty Images Reportage Grant continues the tradition of our Editorial Grants program, which, from its founding in 2004, has supported independent photojournalists around the world by providing the creative freedom necessary to pursue work that is personally important to them.

Prizes and benefits
$15,000 prize (three available)
Receive recognition in media coverage of grant winners
Assurance that you retain copyrights to the images you submit for judges' review
Option to have Getty Images' editorial guidance throughout your project

Grants will be awarded by independent judges selected by Getty Images for their expertise and experience. Selection will be based on the judges’ determination of applicant’s ability to execute the submitted project with compelling a visual narrative in a documentary feature format, taking into account the caliber of portfolio, the project's merit and professional ability.

Summary of the project proposal (Min 300 words, Max 500)
A short biography detailing who you are and what you've done
20-25 original images either related to the proposal or unrelated portfolio images
The proposals must be in English and be submitted electronically


Getty Images: Women Photograph Grant

Getty Images has partnered with Women Photograph to promote gender diversity within professional photojournalism and elevate the work and the voices of female visual journalists. Through funding and mentorship, this $10,000 grant will support an ongoing documentary project from a professional photojournalist who has demonstrated a long-term commitment to their story. Additional consideration will be given to applicants who evince a personal connection to - and engagement with - the communities they cover.

Prizes and benefits
$10,000 prize for winning applicant
Option to have Getty Images' editorial guidance throughout your project

Applicant portfolios should indicate that a substantial amount of work has already been completed, and that the photographer has a clear vision of what further work is needed to complete the project. Additional consideration will be given to applicants who evince a personal connection to - and engagement with - the communities they cover. In addition to examples of previous work, applicants are asked to provide a biography and brief written submission that highlights the aims and purpose of your project.

Requirements
Summary of the project proposal (Min 300 words, Max 1000)
A short biography detailing who you are and what you've done
20-25 original images from your in-progress project


Getty Images: ARRAY Grant

With Getty Images mission to move the world with images, we are partnering with the ARRAY Alliance to provide support to photographers and film makers who are using their art forms to create diverse and inclusive visual stories. The Getty Images ARRAY Grant, offered in partnership with award-winning director and producer Ava Duvernay's ARRAY Alliance, will provide financial support and mentorship to artists who capture the visual narrative of underrepresented ethnic communities and use their medium to progress visual representation - communities such as African-American, Caribbean, South Asian, Arab, Indigenous or Latinx for example. In addition to financial remuneration, recipients will also receive mentoring support and guidance.

Prizes and benefits
$5,000 prize (four available), two film-makers and two commercial creative photographers
Mentorship from either ARRAY Alliance or Getty Images
Option to take up Getty Images contract for winning work

Applicants must apply using our online application found here. The winners will be selected based on their project submissions, focusing on the quality of their cinematography, photographic skills and how their work is used to drive authenticity and inclusion. Recipients must also provide a biography and short written submission, detailing the following:

Requirements
A brief description of your approach, style and story you have covered
Answer question option 1 - What are the stories behind this project? What was your inspiration?
Answer question option 2 - How has this project been inspired by your life?
Answer question option 3 - How does your project drive a narrative of inclusion or showcase new perspectives on identity?




Alexia Foundation: The Alexia Professional Grant

The Alexia Foundation offers a professional Alexia Grant to enable professional photographers and visual journalists to produce substantial bodies of work that share the Foundation's goals of promoting world peace and cultural understanding. Work that helps bring about change is more valued.

The Professional Grant recipient will receive $20,000 for the production of the proposed project.

There is a $50 application fee for professional grant applications. You will be prompted to pay the $50 entry fee during the application process.

Eligibility
Photographers and visual journalists from any country may apply for this Grant. Proposals for projects that have already received grants or awards of more than $10,100 in the previous calendar year are not eligible. The Grant is made to an individual photographer; project proposals that involve multiple content producers will not be accepted - unless you also submit a motion piece with your still images. You must be the primary creator on motion pieces but may have produced the piece with a small support team.

For Staff Photographers:
Professional Grant applicants who are staff photographers must provide written permission from their employer granting them a leave of absence of approximately three (3) months over the course of a year to allow time to complete their project. It is not necessary for this time to be taken in a single block. While all other application elements will be submitted online, the letter of permission must be mailed.




W. Eugene Smith Memorial Fund: Eugene Smith Grant

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 and dedicated compassion evidenced during his 45-year career as a photographic essayist. This Grant is designed to help a photographer begin a photographic project or help complete an ongoing photographic project. The Judges will be looking for a photographer whose proposed project seems most likely to use exemplary and compelling photojournalism (possibly supplemented by or incorporating multi-media) to address an issue of import and impact related to the human condition; social change; humanitarian concern; armed conflict or interpersonal, psychological, cultural, social environmental, scientific, medical and/or political significance, ideally expressing an underlying acknowledgement of our common humanity

Applicants should submit provisional or ongoing work from an as-yet-to-be completed project that would likely benefit from (and likely be concluded if) the photographer were to receive the grant. Applicants may also submit limited supplementary past work on a related subject as a way of demonstrating the photographer's ability to execute the new proposed project. A written project proposal is required.

The W. Eugene Smith Memorial Fund, Inc., a not-for-profit corporation qualified under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code, independently administers the grant program that provides photographers with the financial freedom to carry out or complete a major photographic essay. For 2019, the amount of the grant was $40,000. An additional $5,000 grant will be dispersed as a Fellowship, and two finalists deemed worthy of special recognition will each be given a grant of $2,500. All awards will be presented in a ceremony held in New York City.

Requirements

A biography with up to 1500 characters (approximately 275 words) and a CV with up to 2000 characters (approximately 350 words). The CV can be submitted as a PDF.

The Project Proposal which should be titled and begin with a single paragraph summary of the project. The proposal description may be more fully described; however, this should be concise, journalistically realizable, visually translatable, humanistically driven, and not exceed 3000 characters (approximately 550/600 words). The applicant must affirm that the proposed project is ongoing and indicate how they will use the Smith Grant to fulfill it.

IMAGES: Applicants can submit up to 40 images total. These should consist of representative images from the project being proposed to the W. Eugene Smith Fund. The applicant can include in his/her submission, past work clearly marked that represents the candidate's vision and his or her ability to execute the project being proposed to the fund.

Entrance Fee: $50 USD per project.

W. Eugene Smith Memorial Fund: The Howard Chapnick Grant

In 1996 the W. Eugene Smith Memorial Fund established the Howard Chapnick Grant, to encourage and support leadership in fields ancillary to photojournalism, such as editing, research, education and management. The Grant was established to honor the memory of Howard Chapnick, and to acknowledge the value of his enormous contribution to photography. As president of the photo agency Black Star, Chapnick was responsible for making and maintaining a network of photographers around the world. He mentored numerous photographers and taught annual workshops at the University of Missouri School of Journalism. In 1994 he published the book Truth Needs No Ally: Inside Photojournalism, summarizing his decades of experience in the field working with photojournalists. Chapnick was a principal founder of the W. Eugene Smith Memorial Fund. After his death in 1996, the Fund established a grant in his memory to encourage and support leadership in fields related to photojournalism.

The annual $5,000 grant 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, organizations or projects that promote social change and/or serve significant concerns of photojournalism. This grant is not intended to be used for the creation or production of photographs, which will continue to be funded by the Smith Fund Grant and the Smith Fund Student Grant. The jurors for the Howard Chapnick Grant will be drawn from members of the Board of Trustees of the W. Eugene Smith Memorial Fund in Humanistic Photography.

The W. Eugene Smith Memorial Fund, a not-for-profit corporation qualified under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code, independently administers this grant which provides the selected 2019 recipient with a grant of $5,000. The award will be presented in a ceremony held in New York City on October 17, 2019.

Requirements

A biography with up to 1500 characters (approximately 275 words) and a CV with up to 2000 characters (approximately 350 words). The CV can be submitted as a PDF.

The Project Proposal should be titled and begin with a single paragraph summary of the project. The proposal description may be more fully described; however, this should be concise, journalistically realizable, and not exceed 6000 characters (approximately 1100/1200 words). The applicant must indicate how they will use the Smith Grant to realize their project.

Entrance Fee: $25 USD per project.

W. Eugene Smith Memorial Fund: The W. Eugene Smith Grant for Student Photographers

The W. Eugene Smith Grant for Student Photographers is designed to encourage and support students whose photographic work renews the tradition of W. Eugene Smith's humanistic and compassionate photography. Special consideration will be given to work that promotes social change and that embraces new technologies and image distribution, and that seeks to integrate the tradition of photography and social change with contemporary practice. The Judges will be looking for a photographer and his or her proposed project that seems most likely to use exemplary and compelling photojournalism (possibly supplemented by or incorporating multi-media) to address an issue of import and impact related to the human condition; social change; humanitarian concern; armed conflict or interpersonal, psychological, cultural, social environmental, scientific medical and/or political significance, ideally expressing an underlying acknowledgement or our common humanity.

Applicants should submit provisional or ongoing work from an as-yet-to-be completed project that would likely benefit from (and likely be concluded if) the photographer were to receive the grant. Applicants may also submit limited supplementary past work on a related subject as a way of demonstrating the photographer's ability to execute the new Proposed Project. A written project proposal is also required. The W. Eugene Smith Memorial Fund, a not-for-profit corporation qualified under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code, independently administers this grant which provides a student photographer with the financial freedom to carry out or complete a photographic essay. For 2019, the amount of the grant will be $4,000. The award will be presented in a ceremony held in New York City on October 17, 2019.

Requirements

A biography with up to 1500 characters (approximately 275 words) and a CV with up to 2000 characters (approximately 350 words). The CV can be submitted as a PDF.

The Project Proposal should be titled and begin with a single paragraph summary of the project. The proposal description may be more fully described; however, this should be concise, journalistically realizable, visually translatable, humanistic ally driven, and not exceed 3000 characters (approximately 550/600 words). The applicant must affirm that the proposed project is ongoing and indicate how they will use the Smith Fund Student Grant to fulfill it.

StudentID: A PDF of a current Student ID must be submitted.

IMAGES: Applicants can submit up to 40 images total. These should consist of representative images from the project being proposed to the W. Eugene Smith Fund. The applicant can include in his/her submission, past work clearly marked that represents the candidate's vision and his or her ability to execute the project being proposed to the Fund.

Entrance Fee: $1 USD per project.




Magnum Foundation: Magnum Foundation Fund

Each year, a changing international committee of nominators invite photographers to submit proposals for consideration, which are then selected by an expert committee. Selected projects are those that explore new models of storytelling, demonstrate a commitment to social issues, and/or are grounded in the communities they represent.

The Magnum Foundation Fund is an evolution of our former Emergency Fund program, which was established in 2008 during the widespread collapse of media funding for long-term, in-depth documentary work. Since its inception, the Emergency Fund was a force for sustaining photographers and documentary practice. Increasingly, the ways in which stories are told and distributed is shifting, and the Magnum Foundation is fostering those imagemakers who are developing an expansive and innovative future for the field.

By nomination only
Up to $10,000 USD awarded

Magnum Foundation: Inge Morath Award

The Inge Morath Award is given annually, by the members of Magnum Photos, to a woman photographer under 30 years of age to support the completion of a long-term documentary photography project.

The Inge Morath Award was established by the members of Magnum Photos as a tribute to their colleague, who was associated with Magnum for more than fifty years and is remembered for her steadfast encouragement of women in the field. The awardee and finalists are selected each year by the full membership of Magnum Photos during the Annual General Meeting. The award is administered by the Magnum Foundation in partnership with the Inge Morath Foundation.

Production grant: $5,000 USD awarded


Yunghi Grant

Five photojournalists selected this year total of $15,000 in grants, $3,000 to each photojournalist. We thank all those who submitted entries to this year's grant.
Jeffrey Smith and I feel truly privileged to read everyone's stories and proposals, and are always heartened to see that there is really strong editorial thinking and story development each year with stories driven to completion in a challenging editorial market.
The Yunghi Grant is especially mindful of photojournalist's growth: personally and professionally. The perseverance and resilience to take a story to its conclusion, or nearly so is well noted.


The Bienal's Grant

The Biennial's Grant is open for applications one or twice a year, and it is aimed to fund your photography project expenses through 6 months with a monthly stipend.

Our Grants provide funding by means of a monthly stipend during one semester helping worldwide photographers to further their body of work, and advancing in their photography projects, both ongoing and to be completed.

Effectively, in addition to receiving a Grant consisting in a monthly stipend, the recipients of our Grants will profit of an international promotion and exposure, publication of their awarded work in The Biennial Grant's site (an entire page with statement and images). Recipients and shortlisted will be extensively promoted and their work published in the Biennial Grant's site. The aim of our Grants is to help photographers further their career to a higher level.

The Biennial's Grant will be launched starting 2017, and each Grant consists of a total allowance of $3,000 payable in six consecutive monthly stipends of $500 each.

Open to all established and professional professionals, as well as amateurs and students from all countries of the world, the Biennial's Grant accepts projects in any medium, and at any stage of realization: completed to be refined, ongoing, or drafted to be started.

The Grants will be awarded by the curators of the Biennial of Fine Art & Documentary Photography.



Reuters: Reuters Photojournalism Grants/Yannis Behrakis International Photojournalism Award

The Reuters photography grant program, launched in 2017, has been expanded and renamed here for long-time Reuters photojournalist and Pulitzer Prize winner Yannis Behrakis, who died earlier this year.

Last year's successful grant program saw seven recipients here from across four continents selected from hundreds of high-quality entries.

For the inaugural Yannis Behrakis Photojournalism Grants program, Reuters Pictures reuters.com/pictures is offering ten grants of $8,000 USD for photojournalists and students to produce a photo project and develop their visual storytelling skills.

Successful stories will be distributed on Reuters platforms and Reuters Pictures editors will mentor recipients throughout their projects. Grantees will also receive Reuters instruction, including reporting and hostile environment training.


Manuel Rivera-Ortiz Foundation for Documentary Photography & Film Grant

Proposals of Human Importance and Impact
Documentary photographers from around the world are invited to submit documentary photography projects along with an 15-image supporting portfolio on topics of human suffering and unrest, forgotten communities, exploited lands and people, on communities ravaged by war, poverty, famine, disease, and the exploitation of global resources.

A GLOBAL Grant
The Manuel Rivera-Ortiz Foundation for Documentary Photography & Film will award one EUR 3,000 grant to one documentary photography project based on the quality of the submitted 15-image portfolio, the strength of the submitted proposal, as well as any supporting materials including an updated CV. The Top 12 shortlisted portfolios will be featured and displayed during Les Rencontres d'Arles (Arles, France) at our new 18th century facility and foundation home located on 19/21 Rue de la Liberté/14 Rue Barrême. The selected project must be completed the calendar year following receipt of the grant. Grants are open to professional and emerging photographers in all countries. Photographers are expected to be committed to the field of reportage and documentary photography.

Eligible Work
All proposed projects and submitted portfolios must be works of non-fiction and must be based on such pressing social issues as health, poverty, oppression, war, famine, religious/political persecution and similar topics. Proposals must be for new or continuing projects. Portfolios should be a representative sampling of your documentary work.

Award Recipients
Entries must be submitted for each photographer(s) responsible for the work submitted. Group entrants are permitted. One submission set of requested documents will be necessary for each member of a group or team. There will be only one grant issued regardless of the number of photographers involved in the submission.


Fondation Henri Cartier Bresson: Prix HCB

The candidate must be supported by an institution - museum, gallery, independent curator, publisher, etc.

Presented by the Fondation Henri Cartier-Bresson, the HCB Award supports the creation of a photography project which could not be achieved without this help. It is intended for a photographer who has already completed a significant body of work, close to the documentary approach. The candidate must be supported by an institution - museum, gallery, independent curator, publisher, etc.

The HCB Award is presented once every two years and grants the indivisible amount of 35 000 euros. The winner's artwork project will be exhibited at the Fondation Henri Cartier-Bresson and published as a book the next year.


The Pierre & Alexandra Boulat Association: Pierre and Alexandra Boulat Grant

In order to assist photojournalists struggling with the economic hardships associated with this profession, the Association is promoting an annual Grant, endowed for the fifth year by LaScam (collective society for multimedia authors).

The award is presented to a professional photographer of any age, sex or nationality who wishes to cover a social, economic, political or cultural issue in a journalistic manner, on presentation of a dossier. The Award is given in order to allow the winner to produce a story that has never been told but that the photographer cannot find support within the media.

The Year 2019 grant as been given to Axelle de Russé / Studio Hans Lucas, for her project Dehors. In France, women represent 3.6% of the prison population. An invisible minority. Ostracized, isolated, their reintegration is an obstacle course. Story of their life outside.

The grant of € 8,000 will be awarded to her at the festival Visa pour l'Image in Perpignan



Yves Rocher Foundation: Yves Rocher Foundation Photography Award

The Yves Rocher Foundation recognized public-interest whose head office is located at Forêt Neuve -Glénac - La Gacilly, France is to organize a photography competition as part of its Photo, Peuples& Nature programme.
The Yves Rocher Foundation Photography Award shall be granted to a professional photographer who wishes to make a journalistic study of a topic relating to the environment, humanity's relationship with our planet or the core challenges to sustainability. The € 8,000 award is provided by the Yves Rocher Foundation.

The Award will be not granted to any group, but to a single named photojournalist, hereinafter the “candidate”. The aim of the Award is to enable the winner to complete the project for a photo story photo submitted as part of her or his application for the Award.




Prix Bayeux for War Correspondents

Seven trophies awarded by the international jury:
Written press Trophy – Prize awarded by the Calvados General Council – €7,000
Television Trophy – Prize awarded by the Lower Normandy Region – €7,000
Radio Trophy – Prize awarded by the D-Day Landing Committee – €7,000
Photo Trophy – Prize awarded by Nikon – €7,000
Grand format television Trophy – Prize awarded by the Scam – €7,000
Web Journalism Trophy – Prize awarded by Nikon - €7000
Young Reporter Prize – sponsored by CAPA Television – €3,000



The Friends of the Albert-Kahn Museum Grants

The Association of the Friends of the Albert-Kahn Museum strives to contribute to the spread of the philosophy and the work of Albert Kahn.

A banker, patron and humanist, Albert Kahn built a rich and complex body of work in the service of peace and creating dialogue between cultures.

The Association of the Friends of the Albert-Kahn Museum is bestowing grants for photographers engaged in works that combine photography and the humanities in accordance with the humanistic values embodied by Albert Kahn, who advocated openness to the world and respect for each other.

The objective of these grants is to financially support, honor, encourage and promote photographic artists who use their talent in order to contribute to knowledge of the world and discovering regions and populations. Through an annual event the association enables discussions between experts in the world of photography and photographers dedicated to the exploration of regions and populations.

Festival directors, photo editors, journalists, gallerists, art critics, collectors, curators, and art centre directors will meet photographers over this week-end event.

At the end of the review a jury comprised of experts from the world of photography and chaired by Françoise DENOYELLE, will select 10 finalists, and among those, several winners who will receive a grant of €5000, plus €1000 of conferences or studio events with the public of the Albert-Kahn Museum.



LaScam:The Prix Roger Pic

LaScam rewards each year, in memory of Roger Pic,great French photographer director and dedicated defender of copyright, the author of a portfolio documenting reality and questioning our humanity with singularity. The jury, inspired by Roger Pic’s humanistic and generous approach, behind this Award, will consider the sensibility and originality of the authors. With The Prix Roger Pic, LaScam wishes to encourage photographers whose talent has not yet received appropriate recognition.

The prize amount is 5.000 €, paid directly to the winner by the Scam Velasquez association. The award winner will also benefit from an exhibition of his/her photographs, organized and financed by LaScam, at LaScam gallery. After the exhibition, the award winner will keep the prints made for the exhibition.



The Andrei Stenin International Press Photo Contest

The Andrei Stenin International Photo Contest is an annual contest for young photojournalists aged between 18 and 33 years old. It is Russia’s only platform for discovering new photojournalists and for allowing them to make a name for themselves on the world photojournalism stage. In 2020 around 5000 entries from 75 countries were submitted. Since its start in 2014 the contest has been exhibiting around the world, including Moscow, Cape Town, Budapest, Madrid, New Delhi, San-Donato-Milanese, New York, Ankara, Buenos Aires and other cities. The annual submission period starts on December, 22. The date marks the birthday of Rossiya Segodnya photojournalist Andrei Stenin, who died while on assignment and in whose honour the contest is named.

Since 2018, the New York headquarters of the main international organization for strengthening peace and security in all countries, the United Nations (UN) has been one of the exhibit venues for Stenin contest winners.

Cash awards for the 2020 competition was 125,000, 100,000 and 75,000 rubles for the first, second and third places in each category. The winner of the highest Stenin competition award - the Grand Prix - received 700,000 rubles.



Fondation Lagardère: Fondation Lagardère Grant

This grant is awarded to a young professional photographer wishing to carry out, in France or abroad, a photographic production of a documentary nature, in the social, economic, political or cultural field. It allows the winner to carry out his photojournalism project.15,000 Euro grant. Application in French.



CNAP: Support for contemporary documentary photography

The National Center for Plastic Arts (CNAP) supports professional photographers in the production of a documentary project. The system benefits from the support of the General Directorate of Media and Cultural Industries (DGMIC).

This grant is aimed at French and foreign photographers who live in France, whose approach falls within a professional framework, and who actively participate in the French artistic scene. Their work has been validated by press publications, by state aid, by individual exhibitions in private galleries or places where photography is distributed, or by book publications.

4,000; 8,000 or 12,000 Euros granted. Application in French.




All About Photo: All About Photo Awards

Despite the fact that All About Photo Awards is open to everyone and has no specific theme, many photojournalists and documentary photographers submit their work each year for a chance to win one of the five top cash prizes and international press exposure. The prize pool is $10,000 and the juror are major players in the photo industry.

Médicos del Mundo: Luis Valtuena International Humanitarian Photography Award

The Luis Valtueña International Humanitarian Photography Award, aimed at recognizing and disseminating the best images that singularly demonstrate social inequities, injustices and / or human rights abuses, or the situations that either foster or fight them.

By giving this competition the name of the photographer and international cooperant Luis Valtueña, we pay tribute to his memory, as well as to that of the three other cooperants of the association who were murdered in Rwanda (1997) and in Bosnia (1995) while carrying out their duties as humanitarian aid workers. It is also our wish to highlight the human values they represent.

The organization supports documentary photography and photojournalism and a means to raise awareness amongst the general public concerning social issues, while also promoting citizen mobilization and contributing to the eradication of the worst disease: injustice.

Cash Grant: 6,000 Euros.

Istanbul Photo Awards

Istanbul Photo Awards is an international news photography contest organized by Anadolu Agency, celebrates 100th year as a global news agency. The contest aims to contribute to the sphere of news photography and offers a perspective shaped by the region’s unique position at the center of diverse cultures. The awards reward endeavors of courageous and talented photojournalists from around the world on merit. Although it is only the sixth edition of the contest, Istanbul Photo Awards has become one of the most widely known news photography contests in the world.

Along with the generous awards of the contest aiming to support the hard work and dedication of news photographers worldwide, the application is totally free.

Istanbul Photo Awards receives a lot of attention from photojournalists from all around the world. 10,000 photographers from 150 nationalities sent almost 100,000 photographs to the contest in five years.