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Smith Fund Announces 2021 Judges
27 April 2021
The W. Eugene Smith Memorial Fund announced the judges for its 2021 annual grants including the Eugene Smith Grant, Howard Chapnick Grant and Eugene Smith Student Grant. They will be joined by members of the Smith Fund board of trustees who serve as jury chairs in each grant category.
"Each year, The Smith Fund invites renowned industry leaders to help select grant recipients from hundreds of incredible projects. This year's judges are certainly no exception and represent the same level of excellence in documentary photography The Smith Fund has maintained since its inception," said Phil Block, president of the Smith Fund.
SMITH MEMORIAL GRANT
Judges for the W. Eugene Smith Memorial Grant include:
- Marcia Allert, director of visual journalism at The Dallas Morning News and member of the Smith Fund Board of Trustees, will chair this year's adjudication panel.
- Elizabeth Dalziel is a Mexican freelance photographer based in London whose work ranges from the coverage of the Second Intifada and the Iraq war to documentary photography in London.
- Darcy Eveleigh is a freelance photo editor contributing to the NRDC, the Pulitzer Prizes and The New York Times.
- Michael Hamtil is the assistant director of multimedia at the St. Louis Post-Dispatch after serving at The Dallas Morning News working on both long form and short form storytelling and as a multimedia producer at MSNBC.com and a picture editor for Copley Chicago Newspapers/Sun Publications.
HOWARD CHAPNICK GRANT
Judges for the Howard Chapnick Grant include:
- Elizabeth Krist, former senior photo editor at National Geographic and a Smith Fund board member, will chair this year's Howard Chapnick Grant adjudication panel.
- Endia Beal is a North Carolina based artist whose work has been featured in The New York Times, The Atlantic, Huffington Post, National Geographic, TIME, Vogue and Newsweek and exhibited widely.
- Angélica Dass, creator of the Humanae project, combines photography with sociological research and public participation in global defense of human rights.
- Nicole Frugé is the director of visuals for the San Francisco Chronicle, where she leads one of the most diverse metro photo staffs in the nation.
SMITH FUND STUDENT GRANT
Judges for the Smith Fund Student Grant include:
- Kris Graves, a contemporary artist, publisher and Smith Fund board member, will chair this year's grant.
- Andreas Gehrke is a self-taught photographer and publisher of Drittel Books, which he founded in 2013 and publishes limited edition monographs.
- Michelle Dunn Marsh has occupied executive and creative roles in photography and publishing for over 25 years, co-founding Minor Matters, a collaborative publishing platform, in 2013.
- Lisa Volpe is the associate curator of photography at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston.
The Smith Fund is accepting applications for all grants through May 30 before presenting five recipients each with $10,000 grants.
W. Eugene Smith Memorial Fund Announces Judges for Grants in Humanistic Photography
Industry Leaders from National Geographic, St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Museum of Fine Arts Houston, San Francisco Chronicle and Dallas Morning News Highlight List of International Judges for Entries
New York -- The W. Eugene Smith Memorial Fund announced the judges for its 2021 annual grants including the Eugene Smith Grant, Howard Chapnick Grant and Eugene Smith Student Grant. Nicole Frugé, Director of Visuals for the San Francisco Chronicle, Lisa Volpe, Associate Curator at the Museum of Fine Arts Houston, Michael Hamtil, Assistant Director of Multimedia at the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Darcy Eveleigh, photo editor and former Pulitzer Prize Chairperson and juror and Elizabeth Dalziel, a multi award-winning photographer and Fellowship recipient based in London, are among this year's esteemed jurors. They will be joined by members of the Smith Fund board of trustees who will serve as jury Chairs in each grant category.
The W. Eugene Smith Fund will continue accepting applications for all grants through May 30. Submission extensions will not be granted. The Smith Memorial Fund currently presents more than $65,000 annually to documentary photographers around the world and has presented more than $1 million in grants and fellowships since it was founded in 1979.
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 42-year history with entries submitted from 66 countries. Recognizing the widespread financial need caused by the pandemic last year, especially for the arts, including documentary photography, the Smith Fund's Board of Trustees determined the grant would have greater significance if shared among several photographers and presented five recipients each with $10,000 grants. The Board of Trustees confirmed it would again present five grant recipients each with $10,000 in 2021. The Fund's long tradition has been to present a large grant to a single photographer.
"Each year, The Smith Fund invites renowned industry leaders to help select grant recipients from hundreds of incredible projects. This year's judges are certainly no exception and represent the same level of excellence in documentary photography The Smith Fund has maintained since its inception," said Phil Block, president of the Smith Fund.
W. Eugene Smith Memorial Grant
Marcia Allert, Director of Visual Journalism at The Dallas Morning News and member of the Smith Fund Board of Trustees, will Chair this year's adjudication panel, which includes Darcy Eveleigh, a freelance photo editor and former chairwoman and past juror for the Pulitzer Prize, multi award-winning photographer Elizabeth Dalziel and Michael Hamtil, Assistant Director of Multimedia at The St. Louis Post-Dispatch.
The Smith Grant in Humanistic Photography is traditionally presented annually to a single photographer whose past work and proposed project follows the tradition of W. Eugene Smith's humanistic photography and dedicated compassion as a photographic essayist.
"I am deeply honored to Chair this year's Smith grant adjudication process and work directly with some of the most successful and influential members of the photo community to review, discuss and determine this year's grant recipients," said Marcia Allert, confirming that that this year's grant would be presented to five photographers each receiving $10,000 grants. "The Smith Grant is truly one of the most respected and coveted awards presented to photographers anywhere in the world and I am excited to review the incredible work that will be submitted this year."
Elizabeth Dalziel is a Mexican freelance photographer based in London whose work ranges from the coverage of the Second Intifada and the Iraq war to documentary photography in London. Her assignments have taken her across Latin America, Europe, the Middle East, Asia and Africa and her work has been published in major newspapers and magazines around the world. She was awarded a John S. Knight Fellowship in 2007 by Stanford University and also has won awards from the NPPA, POYi. She won The AP President's award for her coverage of the Iraq war.
Darcy Eveleigh is a freelance photo editor contributing to the NRDC, the Pulitzer Prizes and The New York Times. She is a former staff picture editor at The Times and co-author of "UNSEEN: Unpublished Black History from The New York Times Archives." In 2020, she served as the chairwoman for the Pulitzer Prize in breaking news and feature photography and as a member of the jury in 2019.
Michael Hamtil is a picture editor and visual team leader whose work alongside nationally recognized photographers has shaped his passionate belief in the principles of photojournalism. As the Assistant Director of Multimedia at the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, he collaborates with photo and video journalists to manage and edit their work. He was previously at The Dallas Morning News working on both long form and short form storytelling, a multimedia producer at MSNBC.com and a picture editor for Copley Chicago Newspapers/Sun Publications. He is a graduate of the University of Missouri School of Journalism and has judged the Pictures of the Year competition.
Howard Chapnick Grant
Elizabeth Krist, former Senior Photo Editor at National Geographic and a Smith Fund board member, will Chair this year's Howard Chapnick Grant adjudication panel, which includes Nicole Frugé, Director of Visuals at the San Francisco Chronicle, Angélica Dass, an award-winning photographer from Brazil and esteemed artist Endia Beal. Now celebrating its 25th year, the $10,000 Chapnick 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 the creation of new work by photographers, but for those who support them. The grant, established in 1996, honors the memory of Howard Chapnick from the Black Star picture agency and his enormous contributions to photography.
"I am looking forward to spending time with this year's talented jury and the meaningful and in-depth discussions we'll have regarding entries from all over the world," said Krist. "I understand the invaluable role that allies play in supporting photographers and Howard Chapnick was a shining example. I'm proud and excited to be a part of the Smith Fund and the adjudication panel for this year's Chapnick Grant."
Endia Beal is a North Carolina based artist whose work merges fine arts with social justice. Her first monograph, Performance Review, brings together ten years of work highlighting the realities and challenges for women of color in the corporate workplace. She lectures about these experiences, which also address bias in corporate hiring practices. Beal's work has been featured in The New York Times, The Atlantic, Huffington Post, National Geographic, TIME, Vogue and Newsweek and exhibited widely. She is a fellow of the Center for Curatorial Leadership and has completed residencies at the Harvard Art Museums, the Center for Photography at Woodstock and McColl Center for Art + Innovation. She has received grants from organizations such as the Magnum Foundation and the Open Society Foundation.
Angélica Dass is an award-winning photographer born in Brazil and currently based in Spain. Her practice combines photography with sociological research and public participation in global defense of human rights. She is the creator of the internationally acclaimed Humanae project. Her work has traveled to over 80 cities around the world, hosted by venues from PhotoEspaña to the World Economic Forum (Davos), UN Habitat III and London Migration Museum, to name a few and published by National Geographic, TIME, Foreign Affairs and other relevant media. Her TED Talk (Vancouver 2016) has exceeded two million views.
Nicole Frugé is the Director of Visuals for the San Francisco Chronicle, where she leads one of the most diverse metro photo staffs in the nation. Frugé was named the Jim Gordon Photo Editor of the Year in 2019, Photo Editor of the Year in 2018 and the Chronicle's photo editors were twice named the Picture Editing Team of the Year by the National Press Photographers Association's Best of Photojournalism contest in 2014 and 2017. Before photo editing, she spent ten years working as a staff photographer for newspapers in Texas and Florida. She covered the war in Iraq and Hurricane Katrina, as well as long term documentary stories on social issues and the environment, for the San Antonio Express-News.
Smith Fund Student Grant
Kris Graves, a contemporary artist, publisher and Smith Fund board member, will Chair this year's 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. Joining Kris Graves as jurors this year include Lisa Volpe, Associate Curator Museum of Fine Arts Houston, Andreas Gehrke, photographer and Publisher of Drittel Books and Michelle Dunn Marsh, co-founder of Minor Matters. 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.
"I am privileged to be lead juror on this year's Student Smith Grant and looking forward to reviewing entries from students from all over the world," said Kris Graves noting that last year's grant recipient was a Russian student doing her graduate studies in Dortmund, Germany. "I am also grateful and excited to work with this year's jurors and looking forward to our dialogue as we review the entries."
Andreas Gehrke is a self-taught photographer and publisher of Drittel Books, which he founded in 2013 and publishes limited edition monographs. Living in Berlin, Gehrke specializes in architectural portraits and aura-laden landscapes. His work has been exhibited internationally, including MoMA PS1, Center for Book Arts, Center for Photographic Art and Pierogi, Leipzig. His publications have been collected by Metropolitan Museum of Art, Museum of Modern Art, Whitney Museum and Guggenheim Museum, amongst others.
Michelle Dunn Marsh is a first-generation American who has occupied executive and creative roles in photography and publishing for over 25 years. She conceived and co-founded Minor Matters, a collaborative publishing platform, in 2013. With the active participation of its audience, it has successfully produced over twenty hardcover books and independently sold them throughout the United States and around the world. In 2020 she and Steve McIntyre (her partner in Minor Matters) launched Book Pitch, a consulting service for aspiring visual authors.
Lisa Volpe is the Associate Curator, Photography at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston. She earned her MA at Case Western Reserve University and her PhD at the University of California, Santa Barbara. Before arriving in Houston, she was the Curator of the Wichita Art Museum where she oversaw all areas of the museum's collection. Additionally, she held various curatorial roles at the Santa Barbara Museum of Art and fellowships at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art and the Cleveland Museum of Art. Her current project, Georgia O'Keeffe: Photographer, examines the little-known trove of artistic photographs created by O'Keeffe in the latter half of her career.
Finalists in all categories will be announced in August and grant recipients will be announced in early Fall.