Are you a humanist who chooses to document your humanism through photography? You may be interested to learn more about grants provided by the W. Eugene Smith Fund. This New York-based organization focuses on photographers whose work follows the tradition of W. Eugene Smith’s 45-year career of humanistic photography and compassion. While the submission deadline for 2020 has recently passed, it is never too early to start thinking about future projects and opportunities.

The annual W. Eugene Smith Grant in Humanistic Photography is designed to help a photographer begin a photographic project or help complete an ongoing photographic project.

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.

According to the organizers, the Judges of both grants will be looking for a photographers and projects that seem 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.

The 2020 timeline is as follows:

Call for entries open – January 2020

Submission deadline – 30 May 2020 at 11:59 pm EST. 

Notification to all applicants – 15 July 2020

Recipient announcement to public – 14 October 2020

40th Annual W. Eugene Smith Grant Ceremony – 14 October 2020

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 2020, the W. Eugene Smith Memorial Fund will award $10,000 to five photographers in response to the global pandemic. All awards will be presented in a ceremony held in New York City on October 14, 2020.

Featured content courtesy of W. Eugene Smith Memorial Fund.