Getty Images announces 2016 Editorial Grant recipients

Credit - Katie Orlinsky, Getty Images

Getty Images announces 2016 Editorial Grant recipients

Grants of $50,000 collectively awarded to five photojournalists

Auckland, NEW ZEALAND – 2ND September, 2016 – Getty Images, the world’s leader in visual communications, has today announced the recipients of its annual Grants for Editorial Photography programme, which sees five photojournalists receive a grant of US$10,000, as well as collaborative editorial support from Getty Images. The programme further cements Getty Images’ mission and commitment to fostering photographic talent.

The winning photojournalists and corresponding projects, which were announced last night at Visa pour l’Image, are:

• Sergey Ponomarev for Exodus, a project which explores the migrants and refugees of the Middle East and Africa.

• Katie Orlinsky for Chasing Winter, which examines the effects of climate change in Alaska. (image with credit attached for use)

• Mary Frances Calvert for Prisoners of War: Male-on-male Rape in America’s Military, a body of work that documents American military rape survivors who are forced out of service.

• Jonathan Torgovnik for The ‘Hijacked Life’ of African Migrants in Johannesburg, a project which examines the complex issues faced by migrants from the African continent upon arrival in South Africa.

• Kirsten Luce receives the David Laidler Memorial Award for Border Security. Her project, captured in the southernmost point of Texas, examines the busiest corridor for human and drug trafficking in the US.

Getty Images’ Chief Executive Officer Dawn Airey comments: “The Getty Images Grants programme highlights our significant commitment to the craft of photography. Photojournalism plays a vital role in shining a light on complex social and environmental issues and we are honoured to support the production of ground-breaking work, as exemplified through our 2016 Editorial Grant recipients.

We believe in the power of imagery to move the world and I am extremely proud that our programme continues to provide emerging and established photographic talent with the financial freedom to explore their own projects of personal and journalistic significance.”

This is the first year Getty Images has announced a recipient for the David Laidler Memorial Award – a grant named in honour of the late David Laidler, a former Getty Images employee, who passed away in August 2015. David was instrumental in bringing the Getty Images Grants for Editorial Photography programme to life.

This year Getty Images received 459 submissions from over 75 countries.

The panel of notable judges included:

• Carolyn Cole, Photographer, Los Angeles Times
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• Jean-Francois Leroy, Director, Visa pour l’Image
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• Eli Reed, Photographer, Magnum Photos
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• Paul Moakley, Deputy Director of Photography and Visual Enterprise, TIME
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• Sarah Leen, Director of Photography, National Geographic
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Established in 2004, the Getty Images Grants programme is the largest of its kind,providing financial support in excess of US$1.3 million since its inception 12 years ago. For further information, visit: http://wherewestand.gettyimages.com/gi_grants/grants-for-editorial-photography/

ENDS

For image and interview requests, please contact:

Georgia Colahan
Howorth
E: Georgia@howorth.com.au
T: 61 2 8437 5384

Notes to editors – summary of the winning projects

Sergey Ponomarev for Exodus

Europe is experiencing one of the most significant influxes of migrants and refugees in its history. This project looks at the hundreds of thousands of people who have fled the Middle East and Africa, risking their lives along the way; who are treating Europe as the ‘promised land.’ They begin the next leg of the journey across Europe by boat, by train, by bus and on foot, from border to border, with a vague notion of reaching Germany, Sweden or Norway.

Katie Orlinsky for Chasing Winter

This project explores how climate change is challenging communities across Alaska, and transforming the relationship between people, animals and the land. Vanishing sea ice, retreating glaciers, an explosion of wildfires, intense storms and diminishing natural habitats are pressuring hundreds of local animal species – and the people who depend on them.

Mary Frances Calvert for Prisoners of War: Male-on-male Rape in America’s Military

According to a Pentagon survey that was released in May 2016, men make up 52% of the estimated 20,000 sexual assaults in the US military and face a completely different set of challenges than survivors who are women. This project highlights the many military rape survivors who are forced out of service and many who are even compelled to continue working for their rapists.

Jonathan Torgovnik for The ‘Hijacked Life’ of African Migrants in Johannesburg

At a time when the world’s attention is directed towards the thousands of African migrants trying to reach the shores of Europe, little attention is given to the fact that thousands of African migrants are looking south and arriving in South Africa’s most affluent city, Johannesburg. This projects looks at the poverty that awaits these migrants, including the slum lords who run the communities they are forced to live in.

Kirsten Luce for Border Security

The Rio Grande Valley lies just across the river from Mexico in the southernmost tip of Texas. There are over a million residents, the vast majority of which are poor with Mexican heritage. The valley is the busiest corridor for drug and human trafficking in the US. This project looks at the intersection of culture, law enforcement and immigration in this contentious and isolated corner of the world.

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