The Tom Stoddart Award Offers One Photographer a Book Deal and $7K

Jul 08, 2025

Matt Growcoot

A man in a suit sits on a cello, covering his face with one hand, in a cemetery surrounded by graves and flowers, conveying a sense of grief and mourning. — SARAJEVO-1992: Celloist Vedran Smalovic breaks down in tears after playing a requiem to a dead friend in Hero’s Cemetery, where Bosnian fighters were buried during the siege of Sarajevo. | Photo By Tom Stoddart/Getty Images

The Ian Parry Photojournalism Grant (IPPG) has partnered with GOST Books for the Tom Stoddart Award for Excellence, which will see a photographer create a book and receive £5,000 ($6,812).

Warning: Some readers may find the images disturbing.

Although based in the United Kingdom, the competition is open to photographers from around the world. Bear in mind that each entry is charged £50 ($68).

The recipient should be working on a substantial, near-complete project with the depth and scope suitable for a book. In close collaboration with GOST’s Director, Stu Smith, they will shape a final edit of both photography and text. They’ll also have the chance to travel to Italy to review and refine the book proofs in person. The finished book will be clothbound in hardback and distributed globally by GOST Books and its partners.

Two people run across a deserted, damaged street in front of a war-torn building; one wears a long skirt and a headscarf, while the other is dressed in dark clothing and also runs urgently. — SARAJEVO-1993: Women run across ‘Sniper Alley’ during heavy shooting in Sarajevo in 1995. | Photo By Tom Stoddart/Getty Images

Three adults and a baby are inside a hut made of vertical wooden sticks. One adult interacts with the baby on a mat, another sits nearby, and a third lies on the ground, partially covered by a blanket. Sunlight filters through the walls. — AJIEP, SUDAN-JULY 1998: A new life begins as another ends in the Ajiep feeding centre, southern Sudan, during the 1998 famine. | Photo By Tom Stoddart/Getty Images

Photographers must be 18 years old or over to enter and will ned to provide a concise synopsis or summary of their project. “This outline should be brief but comprehensive,” says the IPPG.

Applicants must be able to submit up the 40 images in total that represent the project, and no AI-generated imagery is allowed.

Who is Tom Stoddart?

Tom Stoddart was a distinguished British photojournalist whose four-decade career began at a local newspaper in the northeast of England.

He became a freelancer for major publications including The Sunday Times and covered some of the most pivotal moments in modern history: the fall of the Berlin Wall, the Lebanese Civil War, the 2003 invasion of Iraq, and the siege of Sarajevo, where he was wounded by a shell in 1992 but returned to document civilian life in the city.

A woman in a dress and heels confidently walks past an armed soldier in camouflage, with sandbags stacked along the building behind them. — SARAJEVO-1993: In the dangerous suburb of Dobrinja Meliha Vareshanovic walks proudly and defiantly to work during the siege of Sarajevo. Her message to the watching gunmen who surround her city is simple, “you will never defeat us.” | Photo By Tom Stoddart/Getty Images

A young boy climbs a pole next to a large, weathered black-and-white poster of an older man in a suit, with part of the man's face torn and peeling. The sky is partly cloudy. — A supporter at ANC rally in South Africa peer from behind a sign bearing the image of their President Nelson Mandela. South Africa 1994. | Photo By Tom Stoddart/Getty Images

He was honored with the Pictures of the Year International World Understanding Award in 2003 for his moving HIV/AIDS reportage in sub‑Saharan Africa, and that same year received the Larry Burrows Award for his coverage of British Royal Marines in Iraq.

Stoddart didn’t like color photography and often quoted Canadian photographer Ted Grant: “If you photograph people in color, you photograph their clothes, but if you photograph in black and white, you photograph their souls.”

A young girl in a skirt and blouse runs joyfully down a street, holding a doll in her hands. The background shows old, damaged buildings and debris, giving a sense of contrast to her playful energy. — SARAJEVO-1993: A smiling child runs across ‘Sniper Alley’ in Sarajevo during heavy fighting in 1993. | Photo By Tom Stoddart/Getty Images

A young child looks out through a shattered window, their face framed by jagged broken glass, conveying a sense of sadness or longing. — SARAJEVO-1992: A small girl stares silently through a shattered window as a United Nations aid convoy reaches besieged people in the Sarajevo suburb of Dobrinja. | Photo By Tom Stoddart/Getty Images

Diagnosed with cancer, he passed away on 17 November 2021 at his home in Ponteland, surrounded by his wife, Ailsa, and family.

“Tom’s archive stands as a profound record of both the horrors of war and the resilience of the human spirit — a lasting testament to the late 20th and early 21st centuries,” adds the IPPG.

The call for entries is open now and closes August 31. To enter, head to the Picter website and the Ian Parry Photojournalism Grant website.

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