Today, Getty Images announced the winners of the inaugural Getty Images Creative Bursary, an award and scholarship given to young photographers to help continue their work.
Getty further explains the mission of the award on its website:
“The Getty Images Creative Bursary fosters emerging creative photographic talent by supporting projects and productions for new commercial content that without funding, would otherwise not get off the ground.”
The Bursary is awarded by a panel of industry leaders including Brent Lewis, Senior Photo Editor of ESPN’s The Undefeated, Andy Adams, Photographer and Publisher of Flak Photo, and Moodboard Zine founder Jeanie Annan-Lewin, among others.
Getty awards six recipients with prizes of $5,000 for first place, $3,000 for second, and $2,000 for third place.
Here’s a breakdown of the winners, with biographies courtesy of Getty.
First Place
Oriana Koren is a Florida-born photographer, writer, and activist currently based in Los Angeles.
Her project “If I Can Cook, You Know God Can” will be a six-month long project documenting African contributions to food culture in the Americas.
Jeremy Dennis –Born and raised on the Shinnecock Indian Reservation in Southampton New York, photographer Dennis looks to explore the topic of indigenous history and oral stories in his project “Our Stories – Past and Present”.
Through his work, Dennis uses the medium of photography to address themes of indigenous identity, assimilation, and tradition.
Second Place
Yagazie Emezi –Nigerian documentary photographer Emezi aims to provoke folkloric connotations through her photographic project titled “Another Tale By Moonlight.”
Emezi began her journey as a self-taught photographer in early 2015 and has since been commissioned by the likes of the New York Times and Vogue.
Neema Githere – Film photographer and multimedia artist from Nairobi, Githere’s idea for her project “Coming of Age as a Nomad in the #DigitalDiaspora” was motivated by her wanderlust and will document her return visit to Madagascar.
Third Place
Donavon Smallwood –New York-based photographer Smallwood has been awarded for his project “Shepherdess,” which is inspired by the traditional paintings of William-Adolphe Bouguereau.
Tara Sellios –Boston-born photographer Sellios mimics the style of altarpiece paintings in her project “Testimony.” The still-life photographs are created using organic matter with the purpose of showcasing the beauty of the natural world.
With their Creative Bursary, Getty Images inspires and encourages the work of young photographers from diverse backgrounds. It’s a great initiative to help push the medium forward.
For more information on the awards, which are given out four times per year, check out the Bursary website.