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Grants & Open Calls
Open Call
The 2022 Alexia Professional Grant
An opportunity for professional photographers, filmmakers and multimedia storytellers to produce substantial bodies of work that share The Alexia’s goals of promoting world peace and cultural understanding. We value work that elevates understanding and hopefully incites change for the better.
Deadline: February 28, 2022
Status: Closed
Deadline
February 28, 2022 (11:59 PM, EST)
Entry fee
$50 (USD)
Submit
Submissions are closed.
Brief & Application Procedure
- All submissions are made via a Story created from this application page or the Visura dashboard
- Stories may be new or ongoing projects.
- Minimum image size: 5000px on the longest dimension at 200dpi.
- Include a written synopsis/summary and project proposal, as described in the Submission Rules.
- Add your synopsis to the story summary, on Visura
- Add your proposal to the Statement (Story Text), on Visura - Add your About statement and Résumé to the Visura Profile page: Profile > Edit > About
- If you prefer to keep your Résumé private, please add it the CV page (viewable by Editors and Judges, only) by following these steps: Profile > Edit > Skills > CV - Stories may be 'published' or 'private' within the Visura system
- See further instructions on the Alexia Grant Submission Rules page (red button link)
Step by Step Instructions
VIEW ALEXIA GRANT SUBMISSION RULES
Application Fee Waiver
Through a partnership with African Photojournalism Database, African Women in Photography, Authority Collective, Black Women Photographers, Diversify Photo, Foto-Féminas, Indigenous Photograph, Magnum Foundation, The Everyday Projects, VII Foundation, Visura, Women Photograph World Press Photo Foundation, The Alexia will be making a select number of application fee waivers available to photographers seeking to apply to the Alexia Professional and Student Grants. Photographers who cannot afford the submission fee should request a fee waiver from one of the following organizations before February 28, 2022. Please read the requirements for the application, and update as much information as you can prior to submitting.
Please note: You must be a member of these organizations to be considered for this waiver.
Steps to take:
1. Please create a Free account on Visura and upload your story submission.
2. Submit to this Form
3. You do not need to explain why.
We have gone through enough in the past years. It's ok. We follow an honor code, and we trust that if you are asking for a fee waiver it is because you cannot afford it. We will notify those who received the waiver by February 28, 2022.
If you have any questions about the platform, email Visura at info@visura.co or support@visura.co.
Application Procedure
On Jan. 11, 2022, a link will appear on this page that will allow you to upload your submission.
Your application must include the items listed below; there is no form to fill out in advance. Professionals will be prompted to pay the $50 application fee; there is no entry fee for students.
Written elements
1. SYNOPSIS / SUMMARY. A paragraph (3-5 sentences) that summarizes your project or gives a general overview of the work you are proposing to do. Reading this should give someone a complete understanding of and context for images they’ll be seeing in your submission. Think of this as your elevator pitch for the project.
2. PROPOSAL. A longer project description of up to 500 words about your entry or proposal. We suggest starting your proposal by clearly stating what the project is about, then explaining why that is important, how you will continue to work on the project (if it is not complete) and what outcomes will result from the work. It is advantageous if you have created partnerships with other organizations to create a greater impact on the project. Do not put your name or other identifying information on your proposal. All applications will be judged anonymously. Only one application per person will be accepted each year.
3. RÉSUMÉ. A document that outlines your professional accomplishments and includes your email address, phone number and mailing address along with the names, titles and phone numbers of three references. Do not send any letters of recommendation. - Visual elements
Submit a body of work consisting of up to 20 photographs. Do not feel compelled to submit 20; previous grant recipients have submitted as few as 12 photos. Just make sure you select only the best photos you’ve made and put them in a compelling sequence that reflects your vision in addition to your visual narrative. If you submit photos that are not related to your proposal, they must have been taken within the past three years; we encourage that you share the overall vision that ties the individual and independent images to your proposal. There is no time limit on pictures that relate directly to your proposal.
IMAGE PREPARATION
Photo submissions: Digital photo files must be formatted as medium-quality JPEG images at 5000 pixels for the longest dimension at 200dpi, using the 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.
Video submissions: You may provide URLs for two (2) of your videos or other media that reflect your Video submissions: You may provide URLs for two (2) of your videos or other media that reflect your proposed project or a topic or approach similar to the one you plan to tackle. Your video(s) should be at least 1920 x 1080 (1080p) and uploaded to Vimeo or YouTube. You then must copy and paste the embed code (preferred) or the link into your Visura Story submission (instructions). Please also upload a poster image, a written description of the project, and set the privacy settings to either “publish” or “private” within the Visura system. Your project should be subtitled in English if the language is otherwise. Also, it is best to keep videos to roughly six minutes or shorter. If your video(s) is significantly longer, please create a six-minute compilation or select a six-minute segment for the judges to review.
Here's a walkthrough video on how to submit your work to the Alexia Grant: https://watch.screencastify.com/v/rYIcDPlZ47j7wPIg9xeY
ETHICAL STANDARDS: The Alexia Foundation follows ethical photojournalistic standards as set forth by organizations such as World Press Photo, Pictures of the Year International and the National Press Photographers Association. Images may not be altered to change the structural integrity of photographed scenes unless they are clearly illustrative in nature. Toning of images — saturation, contrast, vignetting, dynamic range, etc. — must be within reasonable limits, as determined by the judges. We reserve the right to request raw files or untoned .jpg files of submitted images from entrants selected as finalists, with the goal of ensuring the integrity of those images. If you cannot provide raw or untoned files, you might be ineligible to receive an Alexia grant.
FOR FULL-TIME EMPLOYEE SUBMISSIONS: Professional grant applicants who are employed full time, must provide written permission from their employer granting them a leave of absence for approximately three months over the course of a year to allow time to complete their project. It is not necessary for this time to be taken in a single block. While all other application elements will be submitted online, the letter of permission must be mailed to:
Bruce Strong
The Alexia Grant Competition
Professional Division
S.I. Newhouse School of Communications
215 University Place
Syracuse, NY 13210
Student Designation
Students must be fully engaged in academic pursuit at a college, university, community college or centers of photography programs at the time of their submission, or have graduated in May 2021. For most students, that means you’re enrolled full time and are taking classes; others might be on an internship before completing their degree or working on their master’s project or thesis as part of an advanced degree. PhD students are eligible if they are actively pursuing their degree.
Judging Criteria & Process
The Alexia grants were established to help promote world peace and cultural understanding. The strength of your written proposal will be judged equally to your photographic skills. The two grants will go to those who have the potential to produce significant projects that share in The Alexia’s mission and who demonstrate the ability to accomplish their projects as shown by the images submitted. Grant applications will be judged in two rounds. First, members of The Alexia prejudging panel will review submissions and forward selected entries in each of the two categories (student and professional) to a panel of three judges for review before the judging weekend, when they’ll choose a grant recipient and two finalists in each category. Recipients are chosen based on the judging panel’s assessment of the strength of both the topic and the submitted materials.
Expectations of Grant Recipients
Professional grant recipients in years past have been expected to 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 to the Alexia chair at Newhouse/Syracuse University, and if a film is produced, a high-resolution digital file of the piece will also be submitted.
Grant recipients will consider images made during the entirety of their project in choosing the final 60 images and will consult with the Alexia chair to create the selection. The goal of the 60-image selection is to reflect the full scope of the project and may include images from their grant application. All 60 images must have captions.
Recipients also must submit a document that outlines how they completed the project and any publication or public presentation of the work.
All grant recipients will credit The Alexia at Newhouse/Syracuse University in credit lines if their grant project (in part or in its entirety) Is published during their production or within a year of their completion.
Grant of Rights
All applicants understand, acknowledge and agree that should they be awarded an Alexia grant, the recipient retains the copyright to their work and explicitly grants The Alexia, its licensees, affiliates and their designees an irrevocable, non-exclusive perpetual royalty-free license to use, copy, publish, distribute, screen and display those photographs, photo stories, picture essays, multimedia, films or photo-documentary projects, written content, in any and all manner, form/medium/media now known or hereafter created, and in any publication, advertising, marketing, venue or program sponsored or authorized by The Alexia for the advancement of its mission and goals, including but not limited to educational, promotional and fundraising purposes at The Alexia’s sole discretion, without additional permission or consideration, or notification to the grant recipient or any third party.
The Alexia Chair may also use entry materials and completed projects in their educational responsibilities.
Each applicant warrants and represents that every photograph/film submitted with their entry is their own original work and that they have the unrestricted right to grant to The Alexia the license described above.
Alexia Grants will be awarded subject to these additional terms:
The license granted herein by the applicant to The Alexia for use of photographs/films submitted with the applicant’s Alexia Grant application shall be extended in all its terms to all works created by the applicant in the course of any project funded in any part by the applicant’s Alexia Grant. Each applicant shall be deemed to have consented to the use of their name, portrait, and/or picture by The Alexia in promotional and public relations materials or for any other purpose related to The Alexia.
Each applicant shall agree to reasonable requests by The Alexia to present such applicant’s work and/or represent The Alexia at photography workshops, seminars and/or conventions, provided that any necessary expense associated with such presentations is paid by The Alexia.
Each applicant shall be responsible for determining his or her own tax liability arising from acceptance of the Alexia Grant, and for satisfaction of any such liability.