Deadline: November 30, 2020
Entry Fee: Free
Prizes: $25,000 grant
The Aftermath Project’s mission is to support photographic projects that tell 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.
Grant proposals should reflect an understanding of this mission. Proposals may relate to the aftermath of numerous kinds of conflict, not just international wars. The conflict may have been at the community level — for example, violence between rural ethnic groups or an urban riot in an industrialized country. It may have been a regional one, such as a rebel insurgency, or it may have been a full-scale war.
There is no specific time frame that defines “aftermath,” although in general The Aftermath Project seeks to support stories which are no longer being covered by the mainstream media, or which have been ignored by the media. In general, conflict should be over for a situation to be deemed an “aftermath.” There are specific cases, however, where conflict may have continued for so long, or be the result of an aftermath situation, that they will be considered to be within the scope of The Aftermath Project. If you have doubts about whether your proposal meets these guidelines, please email aftermathprojectinfo@gmail.com.
Proposals should include an explanation of the specific aftermath issues related to the project being proposed, as well as an overview of the applicant’s plans for covering the story during the course of the grant year — i.e, the proposed timing of trips, etc. You MUST inform The Aftermath Project if you have any commercial commitments or contracts related to the project you are proposing, including book deals and exhibitions. Failure to do so on the part of a grant winner will automatically terminate the grant, and the winner will forfeit any funds he/she has not yet received from The Aftermath Project.
We open for applications for our new granting focus, which begins with our 2021 grant:
“1492/1619 American Aftermaths”
The 1492/1619 grant is open to wide interpretation of America’s original sins – the 1492 “discovery” of this land by Christopher Columbus and the assault on indigenous peoples and their cultures which followed; and the 1619 arrival of the first enslaved Africans and the legacy of more than two centuries of a system of slavery based on white supremacy and the treatment of Blacks as chattel.
The Aftermath Project is grounded in the understanding that unresolved conflicts – including those where actual conflict itself has stopped (ie, the Civil War) — continue to have an impact across generations. We welcome proposals that explore the contemporary aftermaths of these historical events, which continue to shape our society today. Proposals may include historical or archival elements; they may be portrait projects; they may be landscapes; they may be surveys or family histories; they may be fine art, conceptual, or documentary projects. Most proposals will focus on 1492 or 1619, but the judges will consider proposals that combine them as well. If you have questions, please send them to: aftermathprojectinfo@gmail.com and we’ll answer as best we can. We’re excited to see how photographers are thinking about this work and remain open to all ideas.
Eligibility
- The Aftermath Project is open to working photographers world-wide who are interested in creating work that helps illumine aftermath issues, and encourages greater public understanding and discussion of these issues.
- Full-time students are not eligible.
Prizes
As always, we will name one winner of our $25,000 grant, and four finalists.
