The Photocrati Fund

The 2010 Photocrati Fund competition is now open. Deadline for application submissions is March 15, 2010 (by 11pm GMT).

What is the Photocrati Fund?

The Photocrati Fund offers $5000 grants to non-professional photographers to undertake important humanitarian and environmental photography projects. Our goal is to identify outstanding, up-and-coming photographers and give them the resources necessary to pursue projects that will have a tangible and positive effect on the world.

We will offer one grant in 2010. The application deadline is March 15, 2010, and the award will be announced in June 2010. Awardees become Photocrati Fellows for the calendar year from the announcement of their 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. The Photocrati Fund Board and judges for the competition are:

Steve McCurry
Michael “Nick” Nichols
Art Wolfe

Note: The Photocrati Fund and Photocrati.com are administered by Frontier Digital Media, LLC. Photocrati and the Photocrati Fund are sometimes hereinafter referred to collectively as Photocrati.

Eligibility
Application Submission Guidelines
Selection Criteria
Notification of Award
Disbursement of Funds, Project Report, Photo Essay and Deadline for Completion of Project
Copyright and Use of Images
Other Important Notes
Photocrati Fund Board Member Bios

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

Eligibility

Applicants must be non-professional photographers who derive less than 50% of their income from photography or photography-related activities. 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, as well as the background necessary to carry out their proposed project. If you are someone who has studied photography or done paid photography work, that does not disqualify you. You are only ineligible if you are an established working professional photographer who already gain the majority of their income from photography related activities.

Application Submission Guidelines

Application Deadline: Monday, March 15, 2010 at 11pm (GMT).
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 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 keep 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.

Project Statement and Bio

The project statement should be a maximum of 1-page in Microsoft Word (or compatible) format. 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 attention. Applicants think carefully about what to include, revise their statements through multiple drafts, perhaps have friends or colleagues provide feedback, and they take special care to ensure that there are absolutely no typos or grammatical errors.

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 20-30 images based around a theme or project (preferably related to the project or theme/concept proposed in your application). 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.

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, and avoid displaying work that is not your best.

Selection Criteria

Following the application deadline (Friday March 15, 2010 at Midnight GMT), 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 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, cultural or humanitarian significance of the project and its potential contributions.

• The feasibility and viability of the completion of the proposed project within the projected timeframe 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 by mid-May. Grant winners may share the news of their winning proposal with others involved with the project, but are asked to keep news of their award confidential until the public announcement at the Look3 Festival (and on the Photocrati website) in 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 cover the costs of travel, lodging, and expenses for up to one-month of full time photography. If you are doing a project close to home, then the funds do not need to be spent on travel and lodging, but a case must be made for how they will be spent. Your project may also be longer than one month – just make a case for the appropriate duration for your project.

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 and an image portfolio from the project.

The Grantee is expected to provide a brief follow-up report upon completion of the project that describes how the project progressed, and which provides a detailed explanation of how funds were used. Receipts should be provided for all expenditures over $50. Grant recipients are advised to keep conscientious records of expenses.

Along with the Project Report, the Fellow should submit an Image Portfolio of 20-30 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 for at least one year following the project.

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 of 20-30 images from the Photocrati Fund project.

Copyright and Use of Images

The Grantee retains all copyright and ownership of images resulting from the project, including the right to sell, print, or distribute images as he or she sees fit. By accepting the grant, the Grantee also agrees to give Photocrati a worldwide, non-exclusive right to display images included in the Grantee’s Photo Essay on the Photocrati.com website. The Grantee also grants Photocrati the right to use the resulting imagery on its website, in printed materials, or in galleries for the purpose of promoting the Photocrati Fund.

The imagery produced by the grantee may be licensed (and sold) to others by Grantee, with the understanding and explicit agreement that the images may also be used by Photocrati in the manner mentioned above.

Other Important Notes

Taxable Compensation

The Photocrati Grant is considered compensation. As such, the amount of funding that the grant recipient claims for their expenses may be subject to withholding tax. American citizens or residents should be prepared to provide a US Taxpayer Identification Number shortly after their grant is awarded, before the Awardee can receive the grant.

Photocrati will provide grant recipients outside the US with information and assistance in securing this number if they do not already have such identification. Grant recipients living in the US will be supplied with appropriate reporting information in the form of a 1099. Grant recipients living in other countries will receive 1042 income reporting forms.

Privacy

Photocrati and Photocrati Fund staff along with the Photocrati Fund Panel will make every possible effort to keep applications confidential and private. Applicant names and contact information will never be shared with individuals outside of the Photocrati Fund, without expressed written permission from the grant recipients.

Materials and ideas contained within the application will not be used by Photocrati, the Photocrati Fund, or by the Photocrati Fund Panel for any purpose other than the grant review and selection process, without expressed written permission from the grant recipients. Grant recipient images may, however, be used for publicity (as outlined in this document).

Communication with Applicant

The Photocrati Fund staff and/or Photocrati Fund Panel may contact grant applicants for further communication regarding their submitted application.

Updates and Changes to the Grant

As this is the first year for offering the grant, some small changes in procedures may be necessary. Photocrati reserves the right to amend grant rules and submission guidelines for the Photocrati Fund. If amendments are made, they will be posted no later than 30 days prior to the application deadline (March 15, 2010 – 11PM GMT).

Agreement

All entrants by their participation, agree to be bound by these Official Rules. Photocrati reserves the right to disqualify any entrant who violates these rules, and any subsequent entries of the disqualified entrant. The laws of the United States apply to and govern this grant award and any claims must be raised and resolved in the United States. Additionally, entrants and the grant recipient agree to release, discharge, and hold harmless Photocrati, Photocrati Fund, and Photocrati Fund Panel, their affiliates, officers, directors and employees from any liability, claims, or damages arising out of their participation in the promotion and the acceptance, use, misuse, or possession of any grant. All grant recipients, by accepting the grant, agree to the use of their name or likeness for advertising or publicity purposes without compensation, and upon request, to provide consent to such use in writing.

Photocrati is not responsible for printing or typographical errors in any contest-related materials; for stolen, lost, late, misdirected, damaged, incomplete, illegible, or postage-due mail or entries; or for transactions that are processed late or incorrectly; or are lost due to computer or electronic malfunction. Photocrati reserves the right to cancel or modify the competition if fraud or technical failures compromise the integrity of the offer as determined by Photocrati in its sole discretion.

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

Eligibility

Q: The project that I’m interested in working on is going to be carried out in the country where I live. I would like to enquire if the fund can be used for the purchase of photographic equipment.

A: You are free to undertake projects without travel. You would just need to make a case for how you’ll use the funds.

Q: I’m interested in applying; I consider myself a “professional” photographer; have taught photography in the past, now I’m self- employed & collecting income from another source. I do not make even 25% of my income from photography, never had a commercial gallery, etc. I guess you might call me an “emerging” artist. Am I entitled to apply?

A: None of this would disqualify you – we’re just trying to avoid awarding the grant to well-established working professionals.

Q: I have been involved in photography for the past few years, but received little income from it. I have had limited income for the past two years. Prior to that, I did a small amount of contract photography work, and other work. My income came from a variety of sources. I received a grant this year to complete photography work in another country for five months, and that was my major source of income for the year given my student status. I would certainly call myself an aspiring photographer at this point, but not sure if I fit in the realm of applicants you are looking for.

A: Your situation would not make you a “professional photographer” or disqualify you from consideration. We’re trying to avoid funding well-established professionals, and that’s not your status. So you would be eligible.

Q: I am a stay at home mum that does freelance photography every now and again but I do not support myself on my photographic income. I would consider myself professional in my abilities but am not currently deriving a sustainable income from this. I have no formal training; however have many years of experience as a casual photographer in some portrait studios. Can you advise me if I would qualify?

A: Your situation would not make you a “professional photographer” or disqualify you from consideration. We’re trying to avoid funding well-established professionals, and that’s not your status. So you would be eligible.

Q: Can two photographers (or a team) apply for the grant working on the same project getting the same amount of money ($5,000)?

A: We would consider that if you can make a case for it. The maximum award would still be $5,000.

Q: I am planning to undertake a photographic project in a foreign country prior to the announcement of the grant winner. Would it be legitimate for me to apply for the Photocrati Fund for this particular project, considering that if I am awarded the grant, I would be applying the funds to expenses that have already been incurred?

A: We can technically fund a project that is underway, if we are paying for a part of it that will take place after the award (i.e. someone has been working for six months on photographing, and they want funding to work on it for two more months in the fall – that we can fund). We just can’t fund projects in which the photographer has completed a project and wants to use funds to reimburse for funds already spent.

Q: Your site mentioned that the grant is intended to fund one month of full time photography work in the field. I imagine this means that the grant committee will want the information in a budget to reflect that as well. If I propose a project that I believe, from my previous experience working on the project, will merit three months of work, and I propose that, will that hurt or disqualify my proposal, even if my project fits within the $5,000?

A: Absolutely no problem if a project extends longer than three months. We would like to see details on how you plan to spend the money.

Q: I am somewhere in between photo student (graduating soon) and professional photographer and am not sure if I fit your criteria and want to see if I am eligible to apply for the Photocrati grant. I have earned income from photography in the past and have completed two, paid internships at U.S. newspapers. I was shooting full time for six months and was paid through a small scholarship and sharing grant money with a colleague. This was still less than 50% of my income. Am I eligible to apply?

A: Your particular situation fits into our criteria and you are certainly eligible to apply.

Submission

Q: Could you please clarify whether the personal statement and project statement and Bio are all suppose to be in one page? Is it one page for everything … and then the photos? Or is the bio a separate page and the project statement a separate page?

A: Your application should consist 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.

Q: Can I send my statement, bio, and images through postal mail?

A: We only accept invitation via email. For details, be sure to check the application guidelines on the Photocrati Fund page (listed above).

Q: Can I just send you my bio in an email message?

A: We have specific requirements for the application. Below are the instructions for submitting your Project Statement and Bio.

The project statement should be a maximum of 1-page in Microsoft Word (or compatible) format. 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.

Q: How many photos can I submit? What size?

A: You do not need to submit photos. All you need to do is provide a link to your online portfolio when you submit your one-page project statement and bio.

Q: I do not see a procedure outlined to send pictures. Should I send some of the pictures I have so far?

A: There is not a requirement to send pictures. Your application should consist 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.

Q: Are you accepting applications this far ahead of the deadline?

A: You may send your application any time before the deadline (March 15, 2010 11pm GMT).

Further Questions Regarding the Photocrati Fund?

If you have further questions regarding the Photocrati Fund or application process, please contact us at fund@photocrati.com.

Do NOT email us to ask us to evaluate the viability of projects in advance. Our staff has no control over award decisions, which are solely in the hands of the board. Please do not contact board members for any reason whatsoever in relation to the Photocrati Fund or the application process. (Photocrati reserves the right to disqualify applicants who disregard this mandate.)

All questions should be directed to the email address above.

Photocrati Fund Board Member Bios

Michael “Nick” Nichols

Michael “Nick” Nichols, a native of Alabama, is an award-winning photographer whose work has taken him to the most remote corners of the world.

Born in 1952, Nichols’s training in photography began when he was drafted into the U.S. Army’s photography unit in the early 1970s. He later studied his craft at the University of North Alabama.

He became a staff photographer for the National Geographic Society in 1996 and was named editor at large in January 2008. From 1982 to 1995 he was a member of Magnum Photos, the prestigious cooperative founded by Henri Cartier-Bresson and Robert Capa.

Nichols has photographed more than 20 stories for National Geographic magazine, including “Ivory Wars: Last Stand in Zakouma” (March 2007), which has raised awareness and funding to protect the elephants of Chad. In 2008, Nichols had an exhibition at the 20th anniversary of Visa pour l’Image and his photographs were featured in a National Geographic article on the elephants of Samburu.

Nichols spent two years documenting conservationist Mike Fay’s Megatransect expedition, in which Fay crossed 2,000 miles (3,219 kilometers) on foot from Congo’s deepest rain forest to the Atlantic coast of Gabon, studying Africa’s last great wilderness. Nichols’s work from this undertaking can be seen in the 2001 National Geographic magazine articles “Megatransect: Across 1,200 Miles of Untamed Africa on Foot,” “Green Abyss: Megatransect, Part II,” and “End of the Line: Megatransect, Part III.”

In 2005, National Geographic Books published The Last Place on Earth, a book featuring Nichols’s photographs and Fay’s journals from the Megatransect expedition. His work has appeared in five other books, including Keepers of the Kingdom, a photographic essay reflecting on changes in U.S. zoos; The Year of the Tiger, which focuses on the world’s remaining tigers; and Brutal Kinship, a look at the timorous bond between man and chimpanzee (with text by Jane Goodall).

Dubbed the “Indiana Jones of Photography” in a profile by Paris Match, Nichols has been featured in Rolling Stone, Life, American Photographer, JPG, and many other magazines. He has been awarded first prize four times for nature and environment stories in the World Press Photo competition. His other numerous awards come from Wildlife Photographer of the Year and Pictures of the Year International. In 1982 the Overseas Press Club of America granted him a prize for reporting “above and beyond the call of duty,” an honor usually reserved for combat photographers.

Nichols is also very involved in fostering community among photographers. In 2007, he founded and co-directed the inaugural Look 3: Festival of the Photograph in Charlottesville, Virginia. This three-day celebration of peace, love and photography has been a sold-out success and has included interviews and slide shows from established photographers as well as an interactive gallery exhibit encouraging all festival attendees to share their work.

Steve McCurry

Steve McCurry, recognized universally as one of today’s finest image-makers, is best known for his evocative color photography. In the finest documentary tradition, McCurry captures the essence of human struggle and joy.

Born in Philadelphia, McCurry graduated cum laude from the College of Arts and Architecture at Pennsylvania State University. After working at a newspaper for two years, he left for India to freelance. It was in India that McCurry learned to watch and wait on life. “If you wait,” he realized, “people will forget your camera and the soul will drift up into view.”

His career was launched when, disguised in native garb, he crossed the Pakistan border into rebel-controlled Afghanistan just before the Russian invasion. When he emerged, he had rolls of film sewn into his clothes and images that would be published around the world as among the first to show the conflict there. His coverage won the Robert Capa Gold Medal for Best Photographic Reporting from Abroad, an award dedicated to photographers exhibiting exceptional courage and enterprise.

He is the recipient of numerous awards, including Magazine Photographer of the Year, awarded by the National Press Photographers Association. This was the same year in which he won an unprecedented four first prizes in the World Press Photo contest. He has won the Olivier Rebbot Award twice.

McCurry has covered many areas of international and civil conflict, including Beirut, Cambodia, the Philippines, the Gulf War, the former Yugoslavia, Afghanistan, and Tibet. He focuses on the human consequences of war, not only showing what war impresses on the landscape, but rather, on the human face.

McCurry’s work has been featured in every major magazine in the world and frequently appears in National Geographic, with recent articles on Tibet, Afghanistan, Iraq, Yemen, and the temples of Angkor Wat, Cambodia.

A high point in McCurry’s career was the rediscovery of the previously unidentified Afghan refugee girl that many have described as the most recognizable photograph in the world today.

McCurry has published books including The Imperial Way (1985), Monsoon (1988), Portraits (1999), South Southeast (2000), Sanctuary (2002), The Path to Buddha: A Tibetan Pilgrimage (2003), Steve McCurry (2005), and Looking East (2006).

Art Wolfe

Over the course of his 30-year career, Art Wolfe has worked on every continent and in hundreds of locations. His stunning images interpret and record the world’s fast-disappearing wildlife, landscapes and native cultures, and are a lasting inspiration to those who seek to preserve them all. Wolfe’s photographs are recognized throughout the world for their mastery of color, composition and perspective.

Wolfe’s photographic mission is multi-faceted. His vision and passionate wildlife advocacy affirm his dedication to his work. By employing artistic and journalistic styles, he documents his subjects and educates the viewer. His unique approach to nature photography is based on his training in the arts and his love of the environment. Hailed by William Conway, former president of the Wildlife Conservation Society, as “the most prolific and sensitive recorder of a rapidly vanishing natural world,” Wolfe has taken an estimated one million images in his lifetime and has released over sixty books.

In 2000 Wolfe founded Wildlands Press (WP) to publish The Living Wild, which has sold more than 50,000 copies worldwide and garnered awards in Applied Arts and Graphics. In 2001 WP published the award-winning Africa, and in 2003, Edge of the Earth / Corner of the Sky. In 2004, Edge of the Earth / Corner of the Sky captured significant publishing awards, including IPPY (Independent Publishers), Benjamin Franklin (Publishers Marketing Association), and National Outdoor Book Award. Other titles include The Elements; The High Himalaya; Water: Worlds between Heaven & Earth; Tribes; Rainforests of the World; The Art of Photographing Nature; Animal Action Alphabet, and Light on the Land.

Art Wolfe has been awarded with a coveted Alfred Eisenstaedt Magazine Photography Award and has been named Outstanding Nature Photographer of the Year by the North American Nature Photography Association. The National Audubon Society recognized Wolfe’s work in support of the national wildlife refuge system with its first-ever Rachel Carson Award. He is a member of Canon’s elite list of renowned photographers “Explorers of Light” and Fujifilm’s Talent Team. Magazines all over the world publish his photographs and stories. Wolfe has also ventured into the world of television production with “On Location with Art Wolfe,” “Techniques of the Masters” and “American Photo’s Safari.” His latest instructional video is “The Living Wild,” which documents his work in several locations around the world.

The son of commercial artists in Seattle, Wolfe graduated from the University of Washington with Bachelor’s degrees in fine arts and art education. Wolfe spends nearly nine months a year traveling. He serves on the advisory boards for the Wildlife Conservation Society, Nature’s Best Foundation, Bridges to Understanding, the North American Nature Photographers Association and frequently donates performances and work to dozens of environmental and educational groups every year.