Alexia 2019 Photography Competition - Photography competition

The Alexia Foundation is pleased to announce its 2019 annual photography competition for student and professional visual journalists. This grants is dedicate to student and professional visual journalists to help them produce projects that inspire change by addressing topics that are socially significant. This Grant was established to help promote world peace and cultural understanding.

The Alexia Foundation promotes the power of photojournalism to give voice to social injustice, to respect history lest we forget it and to understand cultural difference as our strength – not our weakness. The Alexia recognizes photographic bodies of work that may elevate understanding of the human condition, give light to what is not right and celebrate the best of humanity’s spirit.

Submission requirements:

1. Synopsis: In not more than 25 words, write a synopsis of your project.

2. Proposal: A written proposal of not more than 550 words to produce a body of work comprised of still and/or video project. Nearly all previous grant recipients have proposed to continue working on projects that were in progress. Organizer suggest starting your proposal by clearly stating what the project is about, then explaining why that is important, how you will produce the project and what will result from the work you’ll produce. It is advantageous if you have created partnerships with other organizations to create a greater impact with the project.

Only one application per person each year will be accepted.

3. Resumé: A resume that outlines your professional accomplishments and includes your email address, phone numbers and address along with the names, titles and phone numbers of 3 references. Do not send any letters of recommendation.

What and How To Submit?

Photographs: Submit a body of work consisting of up to 20 photographs. Photographs should demonstrate your ability to accomplish your proposed project. If you submit photos that are not related to your proposal, they must have been taken within the past 3 years. There is no time limit on pictures that relate directly to your proposal.

Image Preparation: Digital photo files must be formatted as medium-quality JPEG images at 5000 pixels at the longest dimension at 72 dpi, using sRGB profile. Each image must have a caption in the file’s metadata/exif caption field. Do not include your name in captions or exif fields.

You may provide URLs for no more than 2 of your videos - which should reflect your proposed project or a topic or approach that is similar to your proposed subject.

Ethical Standards: The Alexia Foundation follows ethical photojournalistic standards as set forth by organizations such as the National Press Photographers Association, World Press Photo and Pictures of the Year International. Images may not be altered to change the structural integrity of photographed scenes. Toning of images - saturation, contrast, vignetting, dynamic range, etc. - must be within reasonable limits.

Expectations of Grant Recipients

Professional grant recipients will produce a substantial body of work on the project they’ve proposed – in the realm of one to three months of field time, depending on the project – within one year of signing the grant agreement.

Grant recipients will submit 60 high resolution images at the conclusion of the project and if a film is produced, a high resolution digital file of the piece will also be submitted to the Alexia Chair. Grant recipients will consider images made during the entirety of their project in choosing the 60 images and may consult with the Alexia Chair to create the selection. The goal of the 60-image selection is to reflect the full scope of the recipients’ project. Images must have captions.

Recipients must also submit a document that outlines how they completed the project and note any publication or public presentation of the work.

Alexia Foundation will begin accepting applications for their 2019 Grants on Sept. 4, 2019.

The strength of your written proposal will be judged equally to your photographic skills. The Grant goes to those who clearly and concisely propose significant projects that share in the Foundation’s mission and who demonstrate the ability to accomplish their proposals as demonstrated by the images submitted with the proposal.

Winners will be announced approximately Nov. 19, 2019. Judging will take place in at the Bronx Documentary Center in New York City on November 9, 2019.

Entry fees:

Applying for Student Grants is free. There is a $50 application for the Professional Grant Application.

Photographers and visual journalists from any country may apply for this Professionals Grant. For a Students Grant, students must be fully engaged in a college, university or community college level program at the time of their submission or have graduated in May 2019 or currently be on an internship.

Student Awards
The first place winner of The Alexia Student Grant will receive a cash grant of $1,000 to produce the proposed story and funding for a semester at Syracuse University. The First Place grant is equivalent to a semester-long fellowship or residency at Syracuse University, taking three classes, working on projects and further developing skills with the support of a world-class faculty. Organizer will also recognize up to 4 additional finalists. Grants vary between undergraduate and graduate students.

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