Photographers often require funding to see a project through, and one of the ways that funding may be possible to receive is through a photography grant. There are different grants that focus on different things. Some, such as the Emerging Photographer Grant by the Magnum Foundation are designed to support the continuation of a photographer’s personal project. Others, like the NGO Assignment Fellowship from Focus For Humanity, offer funding for photographers that are collaborating with non-government organisations to further the objectives of the NGO.

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Grants are generally awarded by government departments, corporations, foundations and trusts following application based on certain criteria. Some, such as the Getty Grants for Editorial Photography require that the applicant be a working photojournalist, while others like the Leica Oskar Barnack Award express the relationship between man and the environment.

Below is a partial list of grants that apply to a wide range of photographers. If I’ve left out anything that you think I should add, let me know. Note that I’ve left out a few that are more like competitions in that the award already completed work. The included links are for ongoing projects.

Aaron Siskind Foundation – The Aaron Siskind Foundation’s Individual Photographer’s Fellowship (IPF) grant program encourages and celebrates artistic achievement in contemporary photography by supporting the creative endeavors of artists working in still photography and photography-based media.

The Aftermath Project – The Aftermath Project is a non-profit organization committed to telling the other half of the story of conflict — the story of what it takes for individuals to learn to live again, to rebuild destroyed lives and homes, to restore civil societies, to address the lingering wounds of war while struggling to create new avenues for peace.

Alexia Foundation – The Alexia Foundation offers the professional grant to enable a photographer to have the financial ability to produce a substantial picture story that furthers the Foundation’s goals of promoting world peace and cultural understanding.

Burn Magazine Emerging Photographer Grant – The Magnum Foundation – Funding is designed to support continuation of a photographer’s personal project. This body of work may be of either journalistic mission or purely personal artistic imperatives.

Dorethea Lange – Paul Taylor Prize – The Lange-Taylor Prize is offered to a writer and a photographer in the early stages of a documentary project. By encouraging such collaborative efforts, the Center for Documentary Studies supports the documentary process in which writers and photographers work together to record the human story.

Focus For Humanity NGO Fellowship – The NGO Assignment Fellowship grant provides funding for a photographer to collaborate with an NGO in developing imagery that furthers the strategic communication objectives and mission of a nonprofit organization.

Foto Visura – focused on providing economical support and creative guidance to amateur, professional, and student photographers seeking to continue developing personal work.

Getty Images – Editorial Grant and Grants For Good – We offer Grants for Editorial Photography as well as Grants for Good, which support photographers working with nonprofit organizations.

Hasselblad Foundation Stipends – In accordance with the intentions expressed by Victor Hasselblad, the Foundation strives to maintain a worldwide orientation for the stipends and grants in photography. This is made for example through the two Victor Fellowships whereof one recipient is granted a one year postgraduate training in United Kingdom and another recipient receives a five month artist-in-residency program at Location One in New York City. Furthermore the Foundation provides two annual stipends to spend time in Grez-sur-Loing, France or at the Villa San Michele in Capri, Italy. In 2008 a stipend in nature photography was also granted.

Henri Cartier-Bresson Award – Presented by the Henri Cartier-Bresson Foundation, the HCB Award is a prize to stimulate a photographer’s creativity by offering the opportunity to carry out a project that would otherwise be difficult to achieve.

John Gutmann Photography Fellowship – he annual award of $5,000 will be given to one or a number of emerging photographers, showing professional accomplishments, serious artistic commitment and need in the field of creative photography. US citizens only.

Magnum Expression – Created in an effort to raise awareness and inspire change through photography.

National Press Photographers Foundation – Dedicated to helping young photojournalists succeed through education.

>National Geographic Young Explorers Grant – Offers opportunities to individuals ages 18 to 25 to pursue research, conservation, and exploration-related projects consistent with National Geographic’s existing grant programs, including: the Committee for Research and Exploration (CRE), the Expeditions Council (EC), and the Conservation Trust (CT).

National Geography Photography Grant – The National Geographic Magazine Photography Grant represents the magazine’s ongoing commitment to documentary photojournalism.

Photocrati Fund – The Photocrati Fund offers $5000 grants to emerging 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.

Priz Pictet – Awarded by the Partners of Pictet & Cie, in which a shortlisted photographer is invited to undertake a field trip to a region where the Bank is supporting a sustainability project.

Pulitzer Center On Crisis Reporting Travel Grants – The Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting provides travel grants to cover hard costs associated with upcoming travel for an international reporting project. Our ideal project offers print, photography, radio, and video.

The Rory Peck Trust – The Rory Peck Trust was established in 1995, two years after freelance cameraman Rory Peck was killed while filming in Moscow. It was set up by his wife, Juliet and close friends to provide the help for freelancers and their families that nobody else would give. They also established the Rory Peck Awards to honour the work of freelance news cameramen and women.

The Tierney Fellowship – The Tierney Fellowship was created in 2003 by The Tierney Family Foundation to support emerging artists in the field of photography. The primary goal of the Fellowship is to find tomorrow’s distinguished artists and leaders in the world of photography and assist them in overcoming the challenges that a photographer faces at the beginning of his or her career.

W. Eugene Smith Memorial Fund – 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 concerned photography and dedicated compassion exhibited during his 45-year career as a photographic essayist.

UPDATE NOVEMBER 13 2010

Blue Earth Alliance – Blue Earth sponsors photographic projects whose goal is to educate the public about endangered cultures, threatened environments, or current topics of social concern. We are primarily interested in work that is educational and informational in nature, and will consider proposals of any geographic scope, involving the photographic medium (we do not sponsor motion picture projects). Our standard contract sponsors the project for two years.

Thanks to Tim Humble for the above addition.

As a reminder, if you know of any other grants or fellowships (not competitions) that should be included, drop me a note in the comments.

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