Photo ©Vivian Maier

Vivian Maier was a remarkable woman. She was 29 when she made this self portrait. An emerging photographer nobody knew. Vivian is to be admired for her self deprecation. She just took pictures. She worked from the heart.

In the spirit of Vivian, who worked unaided by any publication or commercial shooting, I set up the Emerging Photographer Fund in 2007 to support exactly this kind of person. Someone who could use the funding to work on a project built from the heart. Young photographers like Vivian are out in the world now struggling  to earn a living doing what they love to do. I cannot solve this conundrum. Yet by seeking funders who can donate to the EPF through the non-profit Magnum Foundation, I was able to at least support some emerging photographers through BurnMagazine. All of us at Burn are very proud to be able to do this. We have done it on our own all this time. It is our primary objective at Burn to be able to do this and other projects in order to shed light on new talent. Our track record for this is set in stone.

We have never sought sponsors. Yet this year Fuji came to us in good spirit. They wanted to add to our $10,000. grant which came from private donors and create a Fuji $5,000 grant (plus equipment) for a photographer 25 or under. No strings attached for Burn. We are very pleased that Fuji wants to give someone a boost through Burn, yet we would not have done it if there were any corporate policy stipulations that would in any way corrupt our grant. Clean deal.

So we have a grand total of $15,000. to support an emerging photographer.

We do not care about your citizenship, your sex, your age, your religion, or anything about you except your work. We have an esteemed jury this year who will decide on the recipients of these two grants. I. One photographer over 25 will get one, and another photographer under 25 will get the other.  A talented and astute 22 year old could take it all in theory. You do not enter for two different awards. You just enter.

So step right up. You have until MAY 1, 2015 to get your act together. Too late to go shoot I suspect, yet not too late to start putting a body of work together in a serious way. If you think you have an honest chance, give it a go. If not, wait til next year.

The grant recipients will be announced first at the Look3.org Festival of the Photograph on June 13th, 2015. The whole Burn team will be at Look3.

We hope to meet you there.

-david alan harvey-

 

Enter the Emerging Photographer Fund 2015 here!

 

Previous EPF Winners

 

The 2008 Emerging Photographer Fund grant was awarded to
Sean Gallagher for his essay on the environmental Desertification of China.

The 2009 Emerging Photographer Fund grant was awarded to
Alejandro Chaskielberg for his 8×10 format essay on the Parana River Delta ‘The High Tide’.

The 2010 Emerging Photographer Fund grant was awarded to
Davide Monteleone for his essay ‘Northern Caucasus’.

The 2011 Emerging Photographer Fund grant was awarded to
Irina Werning for her essay ‘Back to the Future’.

In 2012 three Emerging Photographer Fund grants were awarded:
one major to Matt Lutton for his essay ‘Only Unity’ and
two minors to Giovanni Cocco for his essay ‘Monia’ and to Simona Ghizzoni for her essay ‘Afterdark’.

In 2013 four Emerging Photographer Fund grants were awarded:
one major to Diana Markosian for her essay ‘My Father The Stranger’ and
three minors to: Iveta Vaivode for her essay ‘Somewhere on Disappearing Path’,
Oksana Yushko for her essay ‘Balklava: The Lost History’ and
Maciej Pisuk for his essay ‘Under The Skin; Photographs From Brzeska Street’.

In 2014 three Emerging Photographer Fund grants were awarded:
one major to Alessandro Penso for his essay ‘Lost Generation : This is the Story of Young, Unaccompanied Migrants in Greece’,
two minors to: Birte Kaufmann for her essay ‘The Travellers – Ireland`s Biggest Minority Group’ and
Kiana Hayeri for her essay ‘“Jense Degar” (The Other Sex)’

 Past jurors include: Carol Nagar, Martin Parr, Gilles Peress, Eugene Richards, Maggie Steber, Fred Ritchin, Bruce Gilden, David Griffin, John Gossage, Susan Meiselas, James Nachtwey, Mauro Bedoni, Jim Estrin, Donna Ferrato, and Erik Vroons.

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