Huge $30,000 Photography Grant is Accepting Entries for Its 2025 Award

Jul 01, 2025

Jaron Schneider

A person is diving off an old wooden structure into calm water during sunset. The sky is clear, and the structure casts a reflection on the water's surface. — From the Series Paradise Lost, by Adriana Loureiro Fernández, 2024 Eugene Smith Grant Recipient | Yon Medina dives from an abandoned oil structure in lake Maracaibo, covered in algae blooms. Lake Maracaibo is covered by a layer of algae that flourishes because of mineral contamination, caused by a constant flow of oil spills.

The W. Eugene Smith Fund announced it is now accepting applications for its 46th annual Grant in Humanistic Photography which will provide more than $67,000 in total grants, with the top honor receiving $30,000.

PetaPixel does not typically share “calls for entries” stories for photography competitions, but it makes an exception for the W. Eugene Smith Fund due to its consistent presence supporting photography as well as the enormous sum available to grant recipients. The 2025 Grant in Humanistic Photography will be its 46th and the selected photographer will win $30,000. Two additional awards of $10,000 will be presented as “Finalist” grants. Additionally, the Smith Fund is accepting applications for its eighth annual Student Grant, which will honor two students with $5,000 grants (“Student” being defined as all those currently enrolled in full-time or part-time programs, including undergraduate and graduate students as well as other photography programs recognized by the Smith Fund).

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

A group of people, including children, play a board game at a table outdoors at night. An orange glow from a wildfire is visible in the background, with palm trees and smoke silhouetted against the sky. — From the Series Paradise Lost, by Adriana Loureiro Fernández, 2024 Eugene Smith Grant Recipient | Under a sky lit by gas flares, Jalismar Villaruel, plays animal lottery with her neighbors and two children, Camelia and Thiago Fuentes.

“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,” the Smith Fund explains. “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.”

The fact that the Fund relies on contributions and donations is why the annual grant value changes. Last year, it presented $72,500 to the winners of the 2024 Grants while in 2022, the top prize awarded one photographer with a $40,000 grant. Regardless of the value, the Smith Fund remains one of the most important grants for photographers annually.

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). The deadline for submitting applications to the W. Eugene Smith Fund’s 2025 Grant in Humanistic Photography, the Smith Student Grant, and the Howard Chapnick Grant is October 7, 2025.

Image credits: Photographs are individually credited and provided courtesy of the W. Eugene Smith Fund