2021 Grant Application
4 September 2020
Dear Friends and Colleagues:
It’s always a pleasure to announce the opening of a new grant cycle for The Aftermath Project. This year it’s a special privilege as we open for applications for our new granting focus, which begins with our 2021 grant:
“1492/1619 American Aftermaths”
As always, we will name one winner of our $25,000 grant, and four finalists.
Please read the enclosed information carefully. You will find:
1. An FAQ page about the new grant
2. Technical guidelines for your application and portfolio, and how to file
3. An application form which requires your signature and contact information
4. Terms and conditions for applying and what is expected of you as a grant winner or finalist.
These should answer most, if not all, of your questions about the grant application process. Please be sure you’ve read them before asking additional questions. If you do need more information, send an email to:
aftermathprojectinfo@gmail.com
Please be patient – you will definitely receive an answer, it may just take a little time. Please don’t wait until the last minute; we get swamped with applications at the very end and it’s harder to answer questions.
Thank you again for being part of the post-conflict conversation we have worked so hard to build. We are very excited to expand these conversations into this specific focus of granting for the next five years. We are eager to see the work that emerges – and helps us confront these histories with greater honesty, accountability and complexity.
Kind regards,
Sara Terry
Founder/ Director, The Aftermath Project
E - sara@theaftermathproject.org
APPLICATION GUIDELINES
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.
YOUR APPLICATION MUST INCLUDE:
1. A signed application form, saved as a PDF or jpg file.
2. A project proposal, not to exceed two pages. See FAQ for what your proposal should contain.
3. A portfolio of no more than 30 images, in jpg format. Please put caption information in the File Info section of each photo. You must label your images this way:
Your last name, followed by a number – Example: Smith_1.jpg.
Your images MUST be sized 1200 pixels on the longest side, at 72 dpi – with a file size of NO LARGER than 2 MB PER PHOTO.
4. A caption sheet. (Descriptions for each photo, including date made, etc).
5. A short bio, not longer than two paragraphs.
6. Do NOT send anything else with your application.
SEND YOUR APPLICATION:
Using a file sharing service like WeTransfer (or whatever you choose) to this email:
aftermathprojectinfo@gmail.com
Please be patient; you will receive a confirmation that your application has been received
Terms & Conditions
ELIGIBILITY:
1. 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.
2. Employees and directors of The Aftermath Project, and their immediate families are NOT eligible to apply for funding. Advisory board members and their immediate families are NOT eligible to apply for funding. Grant application judges, and their immediate families, are NOT eligible to apply for funding in the year that judges help choose grantees.
3. Only those submissions including all required materials will be considered for entry.
4. Full-time students are not eligible.
REQUIREMENTS OF GRANT WINNER AND FINALIST(S):
Grant winner(s) and finalists retain all copyrights to their work. Obligations to The Aftermath Project are as follows:
1. Grant winner agrees to give The Aftermath Project 12 prints, chosen by will be chosen by The Aftermath Project in collaboration with the photographer, for its archives at project completion. Prints must be 16x20 inches or larger.
2. Grant winner agrees to make at least 30 images from his/her 2021 grant work available to The Aftermath Project for possible exhibition and/or publication (No guarantees are made for publication or exhibition). In addition, grant winner agrees that work created with The Aftermath Project grant may be used for educational and/or community outreach purposes, including lesson plans. Images for such purposes will be chosen will be chosen by The Aftermath Project in collaboration with the photographer. The winner also agrees that images from his/her grant work may be used for publicity and press purposes by The Aftermath Project. Any photograph so used by The Aftermath Project will carry the photographer’s credit/copyright line. No compensation is guaranteed in any of these cases.
3. Finalists agree to make 10-15 images from their work submitted for the 2021 grant available to The Aftermath Project for possible exhibition and/or publication (No guarantees are made for publication or exhibition). In addition, finalists agree that work submitted for the 2021 Aftermath Project grant may be used for educational and/or community outreach purposes, including lesson plans. Images for such purposes will be chosen by The Aftermath Project in collaboration with the photographer. Finalists also agree that images from his/her grant work may be used for publicity and press purposes by The Aftermath Project. Any photograph so used by The Aftermath Project will carry the photographer’s credit/copyright line. No compensation is guaranteed in any of these cases.
NOTE: If any compensation is available for photographs by winners or finalists for use of their images in press or publicity, The Aftermath Project will split those funds, 50-50, with the photographer.
REPORTING AND DISTRIBUTION OF FUNDS, AND PROJECT DEADLINES:
Grant winner will receive one half of grant funds at project onset. Winner will be required to submit interim reports by dates designated in award letter and packet, and will receive 40% of their award mid-way through, and the remaining 10% upon delivery of 12 prints at project completion. All grant work MUST be completed by December 31, 2021; photographs must be delivered by January 31, 2022.
DEADLINE FOR APPLICATIONS:
November 30, 2020 (midnight PST)
Grant winner is responsible for reporting grant income for tax purposes as required by law.
FAQ
What is an eligible topic for this grant?
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.
Who is eligible to apply for this grant?
As always, the grant is open to working photographers worldwide. However, the judges will be most interested in creating opportunities for photographers from under-represented communities to tell their own stories. They will also be interested in proposals from white photographers who want to interrogate the role of white privilege in creating and sustaining these injustices; a descendant of slave owners, for example, may suggest an examination of their own family history. They will be interested in proposals from African photographers who may want to propose a project that examines the roots of the slave trade and its impact in their countries. Again, send any questions to: aftermathprojectinfo@gmail.com. (Full-time students are not eligible to apply).
What should my proposal include?
Your proposal should include a project statement of not more than two pages, which clearly outlines the work you want to do. Your statement will be as important as your photos in the judging process; you need to make a clear connection between the work you are proposing and the aftermaths of 1492 and/or 1619. Your proposal MUST also indicate whether you have any publishing or exhibition commitments for your proposed grant work.
NOTE: At the top of your proposal, please include a summary statement which explains your project in two or three lines.
Your proposal should include a portfolio of up to 30 images which shows your skills as a visual storyteller.
You do not need to include a budget, but your proposal should indicate the scope of the work you plan to do during your grant year (travels, research, etc).
Please include a short bio, not longer than two paragraphs.
See the technical guidelines page for further information.
Can this grant be used for video and audio projects?
No. This is a grant to support the production of a still photography project. Your project may include those elements, but grant money may not be used to create them (or to hire someone to create them). We believe in the power of still imagery and the need for photographers to have the free mental space to concentrate on image-making and nothing else. These images, however, may include accompanying text of some kind, ie, interviews of portrait subjects; text written on photos, etc.
Can this grant be used for exhibitions or book publication?
No. This is a production grant, to support the creation of a body of work. It is NOT a distribution grant, which supports exhibitions and publications.
What if I haven’t started my project yet?
If you have not yet begun the project you are proposing, that’s fine. Please submit other images that show your photographic and storytelling skills. If you have begun the project you are proposing, please include a selection of those images in your portfolio.
What are my obligations to the Aftermath Project if I win the grant or am named a finalist?
Please see the “requirements of grant winners and finalists” section on the Terms and Conditions page.
When will the grant winner and finalists be announced?
We hope to announce the grant winner and finalists in mid-December 2020, but as our traditional (and much loved) process of gathering the judges in person will be disrupted by the pandemic, it may take us a while longer. As always, a group email will be sent out to all applicants before the public announcement of the results.
What is the deadline? Can I ask for an extension?
The deadline is midnight (PST), November 30, 2020. Extensions of a few days will only be granted under extraordinary circumstances (think natural disasters, not busy schedules).
