For over 25 years, CENTER has worked tirelessly to provide opportunities for photographers. Their dedication to assisting photographers in the development of their artistic careers is exemplified in their diverse programming including annual portfolio reviews, educational presentations, exhibitions, as well as grants. 

Applications for this year’s CENTER Awards and Grants are now open for Project Development, Project Launch, Me&EVE, Choice Awards, Excellence in Multimedia and the Review Santa Fe Portfolio Reviews. Applications are due February 25.

Project Development Grant
Juror: Erin O’ Toole, Baker Street Foundation Associate Curator of Photography, San Francisco Museum of Modern Art 

The Project Development Grant aims to support works-in-progress. In addition to a $5,000 award, the grantee will receive free tuition to CENTER’s Professional Development Workshop. The winner will also be awarded participation and presentation in Review Santa Fe and inclusion in an online exhibition. 

The 2019 Project Development Grant was awarded to Sama Alshaibi for Carry Over, a series of albumen portraits of women carrying various heavy objects. The portraits are a commentary on colonialism and the western gaze. Juror Lucy Gallun writes, “Alshaibi's work not only looks back, but also reflects upon the current moment and the persistent effects of these photographic histories on contemporary representations of women. These pictures employ and interrogate the characteristics found in Orientalist portraits produced by Western-run studios for Western audiences, while also bringing them forward to bear on subsequent generations, including our own, reminding us how—to use Alshaibi's words—’domination is articulated through photographs.’" 

Project Launch Grant
Juror:  Dr. Rebecca Senf, Chief Curator, Center for Creative Photography & the Norton Family Curator of Photography, Phoenix Art Museum

The Project Launch Grant assists photographers with a completed project to reach a wider audience. One winner will receive a $5,000 grant and free tuition to CENTER’s Professional Development Workshop. Two honorable mentions will each receive a $1,000 grant. All winners will be awarded participation and presentation in Review Santa Fe and an online exhibition.

The 2019 Project Launch Grant was awarded to Igor Tereshkova for his series Oil and Moss. His film images of indigenous Khanty people in the Russian countryside are bathed in and destroyed by the oil spills that encroach on their land. Curator Virginia Heckert writes, “[Tereshkova] makes the increasing threat of oil spills to the indigenous way of life of a Khanty family raising reindeer in Surgut in Western Siberia tangible. His project both explores a little-known corner of the world and expresses his deep concern for this environmental hazard.”

Me&EVE Award
Juror: Jennifer Pritheeva Samuel, Photo Editor, National Geographic

The Me&EVE Award is presented to one female identifying photographer, over the age of 40, whose work explores themes of social justice. The winner will receive a $5,000 cash award, inclusion in the Winners Exhibition at El Museo Cultural de Santa Fe during the Review Santa Fe Photo Festival, participation and presentation in Review Santa Fe, and an online exhibition. 

The 2019 Me&EVE award was presented to Lori Hawkins for her project Too Far to Walk. Her black-and-white photographs document a perilous journey to motherhood for women in Kenya, where more than 360,000 women die in childbirth every year. Juror Kathy Ryan writes: “This difficult subject is vividly portrayed with clarity and empathy by Hawkins. She tells this important story with sensitivity and boldness.” 

Excellence in Multimedia Award
Juror: Carrie Levy, Creative Director, The New York Times

The Excellence in Multimedia Award is presented to artists working to expand the traditional experience of presenting and viewing photography. The winners will work in a variety of mediums in addition to photography, including but not limited to installation and video. Three winners will receive a feature on All About Photo, inclusion in the Winners Exhibition at El Museo Cultural de Santa Fe during the Review Santa Fe Photo Festival, and an online exhibition. Additionally, the first-place winner will receive complimentary participation and presentation in Review Santa Fe. 

The 2019 Excellence in Multimedia Award was presented to Rocky McCorkle for his “walk through movie” You and Me and a Sunny Day. The series of 135 stills are printed larger-than-life and arranged inside a room. Viewers experience the movie unfolding in three-dimensional space, watching the star, Gilda, relive memories with her late husband. Juror Josh Raab writes, “In You and Me on a Sunny Day, Rocky McCorkle spent years photographing his neighbor in elaborate sets that were simultaneously glamorous and daunting. These explosions of color give a peek into a fabricated life while inferring truths about Rocky’s subject”

Applications are due February 25, 2020, apply by visiting CENTER’s website.