W. Eugene Smith Fund Announces Call for Entries for 2025 Smith Grant in Humanistic Photography, Student/Chapnick Grants

46th Annual Grants Total More Than $67,000 with Top Honor Receiving $30,000; International Partners Receive $8,000 in Entry Fee Waivers to Support Photographers

NEW YORK, NY, UNITED STATES, July 1, 2025 /EINPresswire.com/ -- The W. Eugene Smith Fund announced it is now accepting applications for its 46th annual Grant in Humanistic Photography with a top prize of $30,000. Two additional awards of $10,000 will be presented as Finalist grants. The Smith Fund is also accepting applications for its 8th annual Eugene Smith Student Grant, which will honor two student entries with $5,000 grants. The student grant is open to all students currently enrolled in full-time or part-time programs, including graduate and undergraduate studies as well as other photography programs recognized by the Smith Fund.

The Howard Chapnick Grant, which recognizes programs–not individuals–that significantly contribute to the field of documentary photography through education, will honor the top entry with a $7,500 grant. Now in its 28th year, the grant was named in honor of Howard Chapnick, president of Black Star photo agency, and a mentor to photographers around the world for decades. The grant awards $7,500 to the top entry as determined by a panel of judges. A voluntary entry fee of $25 can be paid through the Smith Fund’s GoFundMe page.

The deadline for submitting applications for all grants is October 7, 2025.

In total, the W. Eugene Smith Fund will present $67,500 in grants, making it one of the largest annual grant awards in the photographic industry. Since the Smith Fund’s inception in 1979, it has awarded over $1.3 million to photographers whose past work and proposed projects follow the tradition of W. Eugene Smith’s career as a photographic essayist. None of the grants presented by the Smith Fund are endowed, and rely entirely on corporate contributions, foundation grants, and individual donations to fund its grants and fellowships.

“We are thankful for the ongoing financial support from both new and longtime patrons, including the Phillip and Edith Leonian Foundation, PhotoWings, the John and Anne Duffy Foundation, The Joy of Giving Something, and Earth Vision Institute,” said Scott Thode, president of the W. Eugene Smith Memorial Fund. “It is with their generous support that we are able to provide more than $67,000 in grants to visual storytellers who capture the world around us, often at great personal risk. Their stories need to be told, and our partners are providing the financial platform to help them,” Mr. Thode added.

The Smith Fund will continue its partnership with several international photo organizations, encouraging documentary photographers from a variety of demographic and socio-economic backgrounds to submit their work to the annual Smith Fund grants. Organizations currently partnering with the W. Eugene Smith Fund include African Photojournalism Database, African Women in Photography, Authority Collective, Black Women Photographers, Center for Photography Ethiopia, Diversify Photo, Everyday Projects, Foto Féminas, Indigenous Photograph, Magnum Foundation, Maleza, MATCA, Market Photo Workshop, Nuku Studio, Pathshala South Asian Media Institute, Women Photograph, UCAB PhotoContact Project, and VII Foundation.
Collectively, these organizations provide media outlets, art buyers, and editorial directors with an expansive portfolio of diverse international talent whose work is often ignored or overlooked. As part of its support of the Smith Fund, the Phillip and Edith Leonian Foundation will once again help underwrite the cost of allowing these organizations to waive entry fees for the Smith Grant ($50), and Smith Student Grant ($10) up to $8,000. Entrants should visit entry rules to determine if they qualify to have their entry fee waived.

Past recipients of the W. Eugene Smith Grant include Adriana Loureiro Fernández (2024), Maxim Dondyuk (2022), Joseph Sywenkyj (2014), Krisanne Johnson (2011), Gideon Mendel (1996), James Nachtwey (1993), Donna Ferrato (1985), and Sebastião Salgado (1982). For a complete list of past Smith Grant recipients, visit SmithFund.org.

The W. Eugene Smith Memorial Fund, Inc. is a non-profit corporation qualified as tax-exempt under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code and is supported by generous contributions from The Phillip and Edith Leonian Foundation, Earth Vision Institute, the John and Anne Duffy Foundation, and PhotoWings. Additional support is provided by the International Center of Photography, and Synergy Communications.

Louis Desiderio
Synergy Communications, Inc.
+1 917-627-0912
email us here
Visit us on social media:
Instagram
Facebook