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A solo show, cash, and more up for grabs in the PHmuseum Grant

The deadline is approaching fast to enter the PHmuseum grant competition, which offers a total prize fund of £12,000, a solo show at the Cortona On The Move festival, a feature in the World Press Photo Foundation’s online publication Witness, and more. Photographers have until 15 February to enter their work.

Arranged by the Photographic Museum of Humanity, a curated online platform, the competition has nine big-name judges this year. The main award – which offers £7000, £3000, and £1000 to the first, second and third prize-winners respectively plus various promotion in Witness, Just Another Photo Festival and the PHmuseum – will be assigned by Emma Bowkett, director of photography at the FT Weekend Magazine; Sarah Leen, director of photography at National Geographic Magazine and Partners; Ihiro Hayami, director of the Tokyo Institute of Photography; and Alejandro Chaskielberg, the award-winning Argentinian photographer.

Digno Cruz (the photographer's father-in-law) crying at home in Guerrero, Mexico, while he talking about his missing grandsons. The discovery of several mass graves during the search of the 43 normalistas Ayotzinapa, Guerrero, shows the magnitude of the crisis of enforced disappearances in the country. The government has found 60 clandestine graves in the cities of Iguala-Taxco with at least 129 bodies (20 women and 109 men). None of them belonged to the 43 normalistas who went missing in Iguala during the month of September 2014. Official figures show that in recent years there have been 25 000 700 disappearances and Guerrero is one of the Mexican States worst affected. This image is from the series La casa que sangra , or Broken Roots, by Yael Martinez, which won the photographer second prize in the PHmuseum grant last year. Image © Yael Martinez
Digno Cruz (the photographer’s father-in-law) crying at home in Guerrero, Mexico, while talking about his missing grandsons. The discovery of several mass graves during the search for 43 “normalistas” in Ayotzinapa, Guerrero, shows the size of the problem of enforced disappearnces in the country. The government has found 60 clandestine graves in the cities of Iguala-Taxco, containing at least 129 bodies (20 women and 109 men). 43 normalistas who went missing in Iguala during September 2014; Guerrero is one of the worst-affected Mexican States. This image is from the series La casa que sangra , or Broken Roots, by Yael Martinez, which won the photographer second prize in the PHmuseum grant last year. Image © Yael Martinez

The New Generation Prize – which offers a £1000 cash prize plus mentorship from photographer and photo director Maggie Steber, and promotion via Witness, Just Another Photo Festival and PHmuseum – will be assigned by Poulomi Basu, photographer and director of Just Another Photo Festival; Kate Bubacz, senior photo editor for BuzzFeed News, USA; Alejandro Kirchuk, visual journalist and senior photo editor PHmuseum;and Fiona Rogers, global business development manager at Magnum Photos International.

The exhibition at Cortona On The Move will be awarded by Arianna Rinaldo, the artistic director of the Italian festival, and the prize includes the show production, travel expenses, accommodation and promotion via Cortona OTM channels.

Waiting in a barber shop in Al Shate'e Camp, Gaza City, on a late winter afternoon. This image is from the series Gaza Blackout by Gianluca Panella, which won the photographer third prize in the PHmuseum grant last year. Image © Gianluca Pannella
Waiting in a barber shop in Al Shate’e Camp, Gaza City, on a late winter afternoon. This image is from the series Gaza Blackout by Gianluca Panella, which won the photographer third prize in the PHmuseum grant last year. Image © Gianluca Pannella

The competition is open to all, and entry costs £30. For more information, phmuseum.com/grant

Diane Smyth

Diane Smyth is the editor of BJP, returning for a second stint on staff in 2023, after 15 years on the team until 2019. She also edits the Photoworks Annual, and has written for The Guardian, FT Weekend Magazine, Aperture, FOAM, and Apollo, plus catalogues and monographs. Diane lectures in photography history and theory at the London College of Communications, and has curated exhibitions for The Photographers Gallery and Lianzhou Foto Festival. Follow her on instagram @dismy