The W. Eugene Smith Fund supports photographers whose work follows the tradition of W. Eugene Smith’s humanistic photography and dedicated compassion evidenced during his 45-year career as a photographic essayist.

The W. Eugene Smith Grant in Humanistic Photography is presented annually to a photographer whose past work and proposed a project, as judged by a panel of experts, follows the tradition of W. Eugene Smith’s concerned photography. This Grant is designed to help a photographer begin a photographic project or help complete an ongoing photographic project. The Judges is looking for a photographer whose proposed project seems most likely to use exemplary and compelling photojournalism (possibly supplemented by or incorporating multi-media) to address an issue of import and impact related to the human condition; social change; humanitarian concern; armed conflict or interpersonal, psychological, cultural, social environmental, scientific, medical and/or political significance, ideally expressing an underlying acknowledgement of our common humanity
Applicants submitted provisional or ongoing work from an as-yet-to-be completed project that would likely benefit from (and likely be concluded if) the photographer were to receive the grant. Applicants may also submit limited supplementary past work on a related subject as a way of demonstrating the photographer’s ability to execute the new proposed project.
For 2019, the amount of the grant is $40,000. An additional $5,000 grant is dispersed as a Fellowship.

2019 GRANTS

YAEL MARTÍNEZ, W. EUGENE SMITH FUND GRANT RECIPIENT
In The House That Bleeds, Yael Martínez looks at the epidemic of thousands of missing citizens throughout Mexico, often believed to be dead, due to the rise in organized crime and drug trafficking.

SIÂN DAVEY, W. EUGENE SMITH FELLOWSHIP RECIPIENT
Siân Davey’s A Poverty State of Mind is a long-term project that focuses on the financial costs of government austerity that have put the lives of women and children at risk across the UK.

NYC SALT, HOWARD CHAPNICK GRANT RECIPIENT
NYC SALT creates opportunities in visual arts and pathways to college for underserved New York City youth.

FAWAZ OYEDEJI, STUDENT GRANT RECIPIENT
Fawaz Oyedeji received the Eugene Smith Student Grant for Yours in Arms, a study of how changing times, unstable living conditions, and government decisions, over time, have impacted the life and fate of student-cadets in Nigeria.

About W.Eugene Smith Memorial Fund

W. Eugene Smith learned the hard way that photography could be too easy, a matter of making expert images of interesting subjects. He set himself to learn the truth – about himself as well as his subjects. In the process, he produced a series of photographic essays, for LIFE and other publications, whose passionate involvement set a standard for what photography can be. Gene Smith was a loner, a driving and driven man, who bucked the system of which he was a part. Some say he sacrificed his career, and himself, on an altar of self-destructive idealism. When he died at the age of 59 in 1978, he had $18 in the bank. But his name had become synonymous with integrity. His work was his memorial.

I’ve never made any picture, good or bad, without paying for it in emotional turmoil.

Why, then, a memorial fund in his name? Those who knew Smith knew also that he needed friends at critical times. Many photographers today are working against the fashions and economics of modern publishing. The Fund was established in 1979 to seek out and encourage these independent voices. In the first thirty years of competition, from many thousands of proposals, the Fund selected 303 finalists who were seeking help in finishing major projects. Each was worthy of a grant. Between 1980 and 2009, thirty-two recipients from fourteen different countries were recognized.
In one way or another, a finalist must approach Gene Smith’s own high standards. “I am a compassionate cynic,” he wrote, “yet I believe I am one of the most affirmative photographers around. I have tried to let the truth be my prejudice. It has taken much sweat. It has been worth it.”

More info on:
https://www.smithfund.org/