The world's leading visual communications company, Getty Images, today announced the recipients of its 10th annual grants programme. Since its inception in 2004, Getty Images has supported the photojournalism and photographic communities with $1.2M in financial grants, receiving thousands of entries throughout the decade tenure. In 2014 Getty Images received a total of 575 entries from photographers in 89 countries.Getty Images first launched its grants programme in 2004, with the aim of empowering a more visual world by enabling both emerging and established photographers with the means to pursue projects of personal and journalistic significance, as well as taking new and inspiring strides in creative and portraiture work. It also highlights Getty Images belief in the power of imagery to move the world, focusing attention on significant social and cultural issues.
Speaking on Getty Images' commitment to fostering creative and photojournalistic talent, Jonathan Klein, Co-founder and CEO says: Imagery is the unrivalled language of our time and Getty Images is deeply committed to supporting the vision and passions of emerging and established photographers and other artists. Our global grants programme has spanned a decade and is the largest in the industry, yet each year's entrants never fail to produce work that both inspires and profoundly moves us. I am extremely proud of the programme and offer my congratulations to our 2014 honourees and to the 80 outstanding recipients over the past 10 years. Getty Images is proud to help you bring important and powerful stories into light.
In 2014, In addition to the Chris Hondros Fund and Getty Images Award which was announced in June, Getty Images awards a total of 10 recipients across competitive grants in three areas: Grants for Editorial Photography, awarding six photojournalists; Grants for Creative Photography, awarded to three photographers, together with not-for-profit and agency partners; and the Contour by Getty Images Portrait Prize to an aspiring portrait artist. In 2014, Getty Images, alongside the esteemed jury, has awarded the following recipients in the respective categories:
Grants for Editorial Photography, which will see five photojournalists each receive a grant of US$10,000, as well as collaborative editorial support from Getty Images, to pursue projects of personal and journalistic significance. In addition, in celebration of the decade anniversary, as well as the company's partnership with LeanIn.org, an additional grant has been awarded to a photojournalist whose work explores subjects that showcase women in an empowering light.
Speaking on this year's Grants for Editorial Photography recipients, Aidan Sullivan, Vice President, Photo Assignments, Editorial Partnerships and Development, Getty Images says: The 2014 Getty Images Grants for Editorial Photography recipients illustrate the talent, passion and integrity that exemplify photojournalism and - after ten years of the grants, proves that photojournalism is alive and well. I am immensely proud of our grants programme and the work that has been brought to the world's attention because of this.
The 2014 recipients are:
Giulio di Sturco, a Reportage by Getty Images' featured contributor, receives an award for his body of work titled Ganges: Death of a River, which documents the demise of the Ganges River in India and examines its impact on the livelihoods of millions of people who live along its banks.
Titled, Born in Conflict, Juan Arredondo's portfolio examines the effects of a 50-year conflict on the youth of Colombia, documenting the experiences of current and former child soldiers. The ongoing war between The Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia and the National Liberation Army, has seen an increasing number of children and youths recruited for both sides.
Jordi Busqu 's award-winning portfolio, The Mennonites of Bolivia, documents the lives of the Mennonites, a relatively unknown religious community of European descent, in Eastern-Bolivia. As the 21st century brings modernity almost everywhere, the Mennonite way of life has remained unchanged since the 16th Century, with this group choosing to live in isolated farming communities and remaining fiercely protective of their privacy.
Krisanne Johnson, also a Getty Images' grant recipient in 2009, has been awarded a grant for her work titled: South Africas Post-Apartheid Youth. Twenty years after the beginning of a multiracial democracy in South Africa, Krisanne's project follows the lives of South African youth, documenting the intimacies of daily life.
French photojournalist, William Daniels, has been awarded for his CAR in Chaos body of work, which examines an unprecedented year of violence in the Central African Republic, which began in March 2013 when rebel coalition, S l ka seized power.
Laura Boushnak receives a special grant, in celebration of Getty Images' partnership with Lean In, for her work titled I Read I Write, which explores the education of women in the Middle East. Collectively, Arab countries have the highest rate of female illiteracy in the world, which this project aims to address by focusing on highly-educated women who contend with limitations on the range of professions they are allowed to practice.
Getty Images Creative Grants are designed to support non-profits which do not currently have the resource to employ photographers and filmmakers to help further their mission. The three teams, consisting of a photographer and communications professional, have each received US$20,000 to create compelling new imagery to strengthen the communications of a selected non-profit.
Speaking on the programme, Getty Images, Senior Vice President, Creative, Andrew Saunders says: It is both inspiring and humbling to witness the powerful combination
