Getty Images partners with director Ava DuVernay for new ARRAY Grant
Getty Images is ‘back at it again’ with the blessings. This time the godsent grants arrive in partnership with director Ava DuVernay’s NPO, ARRAY.
Four $5,000 grants will reward two commercial creative photographers and two editorial filmmakers who are shifting cultures in ethnic communities.
Getty Images and ARRAY also promise to provide mentoring support and guidance if any of the photographers and filmmakers are able to visually capture the narrative of underrepresented ethnic communities such as African American, Caribbean, South Asian, Arab, Indigenous or Latinx.
Still, photographers and filmmakers will have to impress a panel of creative gods. Judges Kira Kelly, Atsushi (Jima) Nishijima, Marc Baptiste, and Ramona Rosales will select the winners based on their pictorial skills, cinematography, authenticity, and inclusion.
Not to mention MFon: Women Photographers of the African Diaspora founders, Laylah Amatullah Barrayn and Adama Delphine Fawundu, will also be throwing in their two cents.
With such a diverse and prestigious panel like this, how can a grant like this not push the culture forward?
In a press release, Senior Vice President of Creative Content at Getty Images, Andy Saunders spoke on how the “mission is to move the world with images” and how thrilled the global photo stock agency is to work with ARRAY. He said,
“Our perceptions of what is possible are often shaped by what we see, and imagery and film play a powerful role in fighting stereotypes, and in empowering communities to feel represented in society… We are thrilled to be further expanding our Grants program – even more so with an honorable and committed organization like ARRAY, who have already done so much for amplifying voices and ensuring a more inclusive and equitable creative industry.”
This grant initiative is right up ARRAY’s alley. The NPO was launched in 2018 by DuVernay in order to amplify the work of underrepresented women filmmakers and filmmakers of color in an industry that is dominated by white men.
DuVernay spoke on the mission of the Getty Images grant collaboration. She said,
“Our mission is to shift the dominant gaze and create a new normal when it comes to the voices and vision of artists of all kinds, and we are pleased to join forces with Getty Images in this effort.”
ARRAY’s executive director, Maori Karmael Holmes, feels the same way. Through the Getty Images partnership, she hopes to “advocate for more inclusion” and to “initiate real-world impact as a champion of these important storytellers.”
Let’s get it! If your artistic eye lines up with Getty Images and ARRAY’s grant initiative, we suggest you head on over to WhereWeStand.com/grants.
Hurry and apply as applications will close on Friday, June 8 at 11:59 p.m. PT. Who knows? You could be the next photographer or filmmaker to shine a light on underrepresented communities and cultures.