The first 2 winners of the Getty Images 2008 Grants for Editorial Photography have been announced. Ian Martin and Lorena Ros will each receive $20,000 in funding, enabling them to pursue new documentary photography projects. Ian Martin’s project, “Hidden Minority: South Africa’s White Poor,” looks at the little-known problem of white poverty in post-apartheid South Africa. Lorena Ros’ project “Silent Witness” documents the impact and prevalence of childhood sexual abuse in America. Martin and Ros were selected from 139 applicants from 29 countries.

Getty Images Announces First Two Winners of 2008 Grants for Editorial Photography

Ian Martin and Lorena Ros each receive $20,000 to pursue photojournalism projects

NEW YORK – February 28, 2008 – Getty Images announced today that Ian Martin and Lorena Ros will each receive $20,000 in funding, enabling them to pursue new documentary photography projects. In addition, each grant recipient receives collaborative support from Getty Images photo editors as they implement their winning projects.

Ian Martin’s project, “Hidden Minority: South Africa’s White Poor,” looks at the little-known problem of white poverty in post-apartheid South Africa. He plans to use the Getty Images Grant for Editorial Photography to spend two months expanding his coverage of this “minority of a minority,” people living on less than $40 (US) a month. By taking intimate, humanizing photos that require time and trust to make, Martin hopes to reveal poverty where many people don’t expect to find it, and in doing so, coax viewers to see all poverty, black or white, with new, less jaded eyes. Martin lives in Oakland, California, with his wife and daughter.

Lorena Ros’ project “Silent Witness” documents the impact and prevalence of childhood sexual abuse in America while providing survivors with a safe, respectful way to address and share their experiences. She plans to use her Getty Images Grant for Editorial Photography to photograph, make audio interviews and collect supporting narratives from 30 survivors throughout the US over a period of one year. The project will demonstrate both the diversity of the survivors’ experience and their common threads. The prospective outcome will be a book and traveling exhibition to be displayed in various communities in conjunction with events involving multimedia educational outreach. Ros, from Barcelona, Spain, currently lives in Brooklyn, New York.

Martin and Ros were selected from 139 applicants from 29 countries, by the following judges:

·      Simon Barnett, Director of Photography, Newsweek
·      David Griffin, Director of Photography, National Geographic
·      Alison Morely, Program Chair, International Center of Photography
·      Rosanna Sguera, Photojournalism Editor, Vanity Fair

Simon Barnett commented, “I was impressed to see such a collection of quality entries representing a wide range of photographic styles competing for this year’s Getty Images Editorial Grants. The judges had a spirited day of arguing, debating and defending our choices, and we believe we identified two winners whose projects may contribute to understanding difficult issues.”

“It was wonderful to see such a variety of inspiring and passionate projects submitted by the photographers,” said Rosanna Sguera. “The organization of nearly 140 proposals was impressively seamless. I have to commend everyone responsible for the grant for giving photographers around the world an opportunity to work on projects that may not otherwise be funded.”

Three additional grants will be awarded in September. For more information about the grants program, the judges, the winners’ projects and portfolios, please visit www.gettyimages.com/editorial-grants.

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