Eugene Smith Fund increases cash awards for Smith Grant Finalist, Chapnick Grant Recipient, adds second student grant

The W. Eugene Smith Fund announced it is increasing its cash awards to some of its grant and finalist recipients and adding a second grant to its Smith Student grant category. Thanks to new corporate donors and increased financial support from current patrons, the Eugene Smith Fund is able to now award two Smith Grant Finalist awards each in the amount of $10,000. In addition, the Howard Chapnick Grant recipient will now receive $7,500, and a second Smith Student Grant in the amount of $5,000 will be added. This year, the Eugene Smith Fund will now provide documentary photographers and programs ancillary to photography, with a total of $67,500 in cash awards. With additional funding, the hope is that grant recipients will be able to focus on their respective projects and alleviate the financial stress often associated with long form documentary projects.

The deadline for submitting applications for all grants is Oct 8, 2024.

Thanks to longtime supporters including the Phillip and Edith Leonian Foundation, Earth Vision Institute, and the John and Anne Duffy Foundation, the Smith Fund increased its two Finalist Grants to $10,000 each.

In addition, the Leonian Foundation will once again help underwrite the cost of entries for members of several international photo organizations who have partnered with the Smith Fund. This year, the Smith Fund is providing a total of $22,100 in entry fee waivers to encourage documentary photographers from a variety of demographic and socio-economic backgrounds to submit their work to the annual Smith Fund grants. Entrants should visit entry rules to determine if they qualify to have their entry fee waived. For the Howard Chapnick Grant, a voluntary entry fee of $25 can be paid through the Smith Fund’s GoFundMe page.

New supporters including PhotoWings and the Joy of Giving have allowed the Smith Fund to create a second Student grant of $5,000 and increase the Howard Chapnick Grant to $7,500. Financial contributions by these organizations, along with aggressive fundraising outreach by its board of trustees will help the Smith Fund build a solid foundation to continue funding documentary photographers around the world.

“We are blessed to be in a position to raise the cash awards of this year’s grants and add a second grant to our Student category, said Scott Thode, president of the W. Eugene Smith Fund. We are extremely “The ongoing commitment by our longtime sponsors, along with pledges from new supporters and the tireless effort of our board of trustees, we are well positioned to continue supporting documentary photographers around the world for the foreseeable future.”