PERPIGNAN – Reuters, the world’s largest international multimedia news provider, today announced the launch of a photojournalism grant program which seeks to recruit and develop a diverse new generation of young photojournalists.

Reuters Pictures is offering up to eight $5,000 USD grants to passionate photojournalists or students of photojournalism who are interested in working on photo assignments and projects to advance their abilities and tell new stories.

Pictures taken by grant recipients will be distributed globally on Reuters platforms. Yannis Behrakis, Reuters photojournalist and senior editor, special projects, will advise recipients with their assignments and projects, providing advice or planning assistance. Yannis is well known for his coverage of the European migrant crisis and was part of a team of Reuters Pictures photographers awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Breaking News Photography for their coverage of the crisis in 2016.

Candidates do not need to be professional photojournalists, but must demonstrate an ability to successfully conceive and complete their grant project.

“Reuters is keen to recruit diverse candidates from all backgrounds and we are excited to work with emerging talents who can tell human stories from new perspectives.”, said Reuters Global Editor of Video and Pictures John Pullman. “We look forward to reviewing the submitted applications.”

The photojournalism grants are being launched on the first day of the Visa pour l’Image international festival of photojournalism, taking place in Perpignan, France. Aspiring photojournalists attending the festival will be able to visit the Reuters stand, located in stand 23-24 on the second floor of the Palais des Congrès, where The Wider Image editors Gabrielle Fonseca Johnson and Marika Kochiashvili, as well as Yannis Behrakis, will be available to provide portfolio reviews and advice.

Other Reuters activities at this major photo industry event include:

• Reuters Pictures photographers and senior editors will be providing portfolio reviews for photographers seeking feedback on their work. Taking part in the portfolio reviews are Rickey Rogers, Global Editor, Reuters Pictures, Yannis Behrakis and Reuters Pictures photographers Goran Tomasevic and Damir Sagolj.
• Veteran Reuters Pictures photographer Zohra Bensemra’s work will be exhibited in Lives on a Wire, an exhibition exploring the human cost of war, based on her work in Libya, Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan, Sudan, Egypt and Somalia. Zohra will also be taking part in the festival’s education programme, presenting her exhibition to local schoolchildren.
• Damir Sagolj’s images of the war on drugs in the Philippines will feature in a screening at the Campo Santo in Perpignan on September 8th.

Reuters

Reuters, the news and media division of Thomson Reuters, is the world’s largest international multimedia news provider reaching more than one billion people every day. Reuters provides trusted business, financial, national and international news to professionals via Thomson Reuters desktops, the world's media organizations and directly to consumers at Reuters.com and via Reuters TV. Follow news about Reuters at @ReutersPR.

Notes to Editors

Photojournalism Grants

Application requirements
Applicants must submit a CV and a 35-50 picture portfolio (JPEG format) of both single images and multi-image stories. Applicants must also submit a detailed cover letter explaining a project or idea to use the grant. A focused project about a subject in a community or location close to you that you can reasonably complete in a few weeks or months is advisable.

Application and grant period

Application period: September 10, 2017 to November 10, 2017.
Grant period: January 1, 2018 to December 31, 2018.

How to apply
Visit our application site. Successful candidates will be contacted by Yannis Behrakis.

Visa pour l’Image

Biographies of Reuters Pictures editors and photographers taking part in portfolio reviews

• Rickey Rogers, Global Editor, Reuters Pictures. Rickey was appointed Global Editor in January 2017, and was formerly Editor, Americas Pictures.
  
• Yannis Behrakis, Reuters Pictures photojournalist and senior editor, special projects. Yannis was part of the Reuters team who won the 2015 Pulitzer Prize for Breaking News Photography.
  
• Goran Tomasevic, Reuters Pictures photojournalist known for his coverage of conflicts around the world.
  
• Damir Sagolj, Reuters Pictures photojournalist based in Beijing whose recent work includes images from China, North Korea and Mongolia as well as the war on drugs in the Philippines.

Zohra Bensemra
Born in Algiers, Zohra Bensemra has worked as a photojournalist since 1990. She started her career at El Watan newspaper as Algeria’s first female photojournalist and joined Reuters in 1997 documenting the Algerian civil war. Among her first international assignments was the 2000 conflict in Macedonia and the 2003 Iraq war. Since then she has worked across the Middle-East and Africa, covering the referendum in Sudan, the Tunisian uprising and the revolution in Libya, as well as Afghanistan, Syria, Darfur and Somalia. From 2012 to 2014, Bensemra was Reuters Chief Photographer for Pakistan, based in Islamabad, before moving back to Algiers where she continues to cover breaking news in the Middle-East and Africa. Over the last year, she has travelled several times to Iraq documenting the frontline battle against Islamic State militants in Mosul as well as the humanitarian impact of the conflict. In 2005, Zohra won the European Union prize for the best African photographer.

CONTACT

Pete Biggs
PR Manager, Reuters
+44 (0) 207 7542 4214
pete.biggs@tr.com