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Smith Fund Announces Call for Entries
23 January 2021
The W. Eugene Smith Fund, now in its 42nd year, has announced it is accepting applications for its 2021 grant of $10,000 each to five photographers, once again diverging from its 40-year tradition of honoring a single photographer with the whole amount.
Sabiha Cimen. From her project, Hafiz: The Guardians of Quran (2018). Elif, 9, is a new student in the Qur'an school on her first day covering her head. Her goal is to memorize the whole Qur'an and to be a Hafiz in the next two years. Cimen was one of five photographers who received a $10,000 Smith Grant in 2020..
In addition, the Smith Fund announced it is accepting applications for the 4th annual Eugene Smith Student Grant open to all collegiate-level students and the 25th annual Howard Chapnick Grant, which honors an individual or organization whose services support photographers in the field.
"I am proud of the decisions the board of trustees made this year as we continue to adjust the structure and tradition, of the Smith Fund to serve the immediate financial needs of photographers around the world," said Phil Block, president of the W. Eugene Smith Memorial Fund. "And thanks to our board, the generosity of past grant recipients and finalists and patrons of the arts, the success of our first-ever holiday print sale will allow us to present this year's grant recipients with the necessary funding to help them complete their important projects."
The Smith Fund has maintained partnerships with several international photo organizations to encourage documentary photographers from a variety of demographic and socio-economic backgrounds to submit their work to the annual Smith Fund Grant. The partnerships, first established in 2019, give organizations the ability to waive entry fees for the Smith Grant ($50), Chapnick Grant ($50) and Smith Student Grant ($10), as they deem appropriate. Entrants should visit entry rules to determine if they qualify to have their entry fee waived.
To apply for these grants, visit SmithFund.org. The deadline for submitting applications to all grants is May 30 at 11:59 p.m. EST. Recipients will be announced to the public in October.
For more information see the news release below.
W. Eugene Smith Fund Announces 2021 Grant Call for Entries: Five Recipients will Share $50,000 Top Prize as Widespread Financial Needs Persist
Continued Decline in Grants for the Arts Aids Board's Decision to Share Top Grant; Annual Student/Chapnick Grants Will Continue to Honor Single Recipients
NEW YORK -- If the past year has taught us anything, it's that photojournalism and documentary photography has never played a more important role in world history than right at this moment. As grants and fellowships for the arts, including photography, continue to decline amidst ongoing financial hardships due to the pandemic, the W. Eugene Smith Memorial Fund decided it will once again break from its 40-year tradition of honoring a single photographer with its grant ($40,000) and instead present five photographers each with $10,000. The decision to present five grants was first approved by the fund's board of trustees in early 2020 to support an extended number of deserving grant candidates. Now in its 42nd year and after a successful holiday print sale consisting of works from previous grant recipients and finalists, the Eugene Smith Fund is proud to announce call for entries to its 2021 grant. Since the Fund's inception in 1979, it has awarded over $1 million to photographers whose past work and proposed projects follow the tradition of W. Eugene Smith's career as a photographic essayist.
In addition, The Smith Fund is accepting applications for the 4th annual Eugene Smith Student Grant open to all collegiate-level students and the 25th annual Howard Chapnick Grant, which honors an individual or organization whose services support photographers in the field.
The Smith Fund also announced it will maintain partnerships with several international photo organizations to encourage documentary photographers from a variety of demographic and socio-economic backgrounds to submit their work to the annual Smith Fund Grant. These partnerships, first established in 2019, give organizations the ability to waive entry fees for the Smith Grant ($50), Chapnick Grant ($50) and Smith Student Grant ($10), as they deem appropriate. Entrants should visit entry rules to determine if they qualify to have their entry fee waived.
"I am proud of the decisions the board of trustees made this year as we continue to adjust the structure and tradition, of the Smith Fund to serve the immediate financial needs of photographers around the world," said Phil Block, president of the W. Eugene Smith Memorial Fund. "And thanks to our board, the generosity of past grant recipients and finalists and patrons of the arts, the success of our first-ever holiday print sale will allow us to present this year's grant recipients with the necessary funding to help them complete their important projects."
Despite the pandemic and its stranglehold on world economies and social gatherings, last year's Smith Fund received the highest number of entries in the grant's 41-year history with recipients being selected from entries representing 66 countries.
Photographers and other industry professionals interested in submitting applications for these grants (or interested in learning more about the grants and fellowship), should visit SmithFund.org. The deadline for submitting applications to all grants is May 30 (11:59 EST).
Recipients will be announced to the public in October. Due to the ongoing pandemic and public gathering restrictions, the annual live ceremony will remain TBD.
The Smith Fund 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 dedicated compassion and humanistic approach to his subjects throughout his career as a photographic essayist. Past recipients have included Sabiha Cimen (2020), Justyna Mielnikiewicz (2016), Peter van Agtmael (2012) Darcy Padilla (2010), James Nachtwey (1993), Eli Reed (1992), Sebastia[!]o Salgado (1982) and Jane Evelyn Atwood (1980), among dozens of others.
The Smith Student Grant
Now in its fourth year, the Smith Fund Student Grant was created to encourage students to utilize the photographic medium as a form of humanistic observation and social activism. The $5,000 grant provides a special category for all collegiate-level students (photo and non-photo majors) to submit their documentary photography and tell their stories.
The 25th Annual Howard Chapnick Grant
Last year, the Smith Fund board of trustees increased the Howard Chapnick Grant, to $10,000. The grant is presented to an individual for his or her leadership in any field ancillary to photojournalism, such as picture editing, research, education and management. This grant is not intended for photographers, but for those who support them. It was established in 1996 to honor the memory of Howard Chapnick who led the Black Star photo agency and to acknowledge his enormous contribution to photography. The grant may be used by the recipient to finance a range of qualified undertakings, which might include a program of further education, special research, a long-term sabbatical project or an internship to work with a noteworthy group or individual. This grant is not for the creation or production of photographs.
International Partnerships and Entrant Diversity
The Smith Fund will continue its partnership with international photo organizations to encourage documentary photographers from a variety of demographic and socio-economic backgrounds to submit their work to the annual Smith Fund Grant and Fellowships. Organizations currently partnering with the W. Eugene Smith Fund include African Photojournalism Database, Arab Documentary Photography Program, Authority Collective, Diversify Photo, Foto Feminas, Natives Photograph and Women Photograph. Collectively, these organizations provide media outlets, art buyers and editorial directors with an expansive portfolio of diverse international talent whose work is often ignored or overlooked.
The W. Eugene Smith Fund Memorial Fund, Inc. is a non-profit corporation qualified as tax-exempt under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code. The W. Eugene Smith Memorial Fund is supported by generous contributions from The Phillip and Edith Leonian Foundation, Meero Foundation, , Carla Shen, Chris Schott and Dora Somosi. Additional support is provided by the International Center of Photography, Pro Photo Daily and Synergy Communications.