The Michael P. Smith Fund for Documentary Photography, established by NOPA in honor of a Crescent City photographer who spent his career documenting the city’s music and culture, will begin accepting applications for its 2012 grant on Wednesday, Feb. 1.
The fund annually awards one $5,000 grant to a Gulf Coast region photographer whose work combines artistic excellence with a sustained commitment to a long-term, cultural documentary project. Emerging, as well as established, photographers residing in the Gulf states of Louisiana, Texas, Mississippi, Alabama and Florida are eligible to apply.
The award honors the late photographer Michael P. Smith.
Applications will be accepted through Friday, March 30. For submission guidelines, and to download an application form, you may visit the Photo Alliance website’s MPS Fund page.
Potential applicants should note that the grant is awarded by a juried, two-part review process. Three preliminary jurors first select ten finalists, and a single juror selects a recipient from those finalists.
This year’s preliminary review jurors include:
Glenn Ruga, director of Boston’s Photographic Resource Center and the SocialDocumentary.net website;
Paul Moakley, Photo Editor at Time magazine; and Ellen Fleurov, Director of the Silver Eye Center For Photography of Philadelphia PA.
A 2012 grant recipient will be selected by Brett Abbott, the Curator of Photography at Atlanta’s High Museum of Art.
Image: Michael P. Smith