Film Photo Award

The Film Photo Award offers two award cycles per year, each providing three distinct grants of Kodak Professional Film and complementary film processing by Griffin Editions to photographers who demonstrate a serious commitment to the field and are motivated to continue the development of still, film-based photography in the 21st century.

The Film Photo Award is open to all emerging, established, and student photographers worldwide, 18 years old or older. 

During each spring and fall award cycle, 3 film grants will be awarded:
2 Visionary Project Awards and 1 Student Project Award.

The Film Photo Award is generously supported by Griffin Editions, Cassilhaus, Kodak, and Standard Cameras.  Make sure to show them some love in return for their support of our creative pursuits. 
 

Why Film?
Film photography is a unique artistic medium in and of itself, deserving of support and celebration.

Film photography continues to express its undeniable importance, purpose, and resilience in the image-making world despite, and in tandem with, newer omnipresent technologies.

Film photographers embrace the unexpected and the unknown, and their work often yields surprising and enriching results. In film photography there exists a beauty that has nothing to do with nostalgia and everything to do with process, materiality, and personal growth.

Film photographers make great sacrifice to acquire the material for their artistic expression, and this access is something we at the Film Photo Award strive to democratize.

With six awards per year of Kodak Professional Film to emerging, established, and student photographers alike, we seek to provide talented and dedicated photographers with access to all that film photography has to offer, and to help facilitate new and ongoing film projects.

Award Details
During each spring and fall award cycle, three Film Photo Awards will be granted: Two Visionary Project Awards and One Student Project Award. Learn more about each award below.

Each Film Photo Award includes:

• Kodak Professional Film

Film processing for awarded film with Griffin Editions

An exclusive feature of your work published in Lenscratch!

Interview published on the Film Photo Award website and social media leading up to the culmination of your award year

*In addition, the Student Project Award includes a new 4x5 view camera by Standard Cameras

Finalists will also be selected in each award category and receive acknowledgment on Film Photo Award’s website and social media.

When completing the online application, applicants will be asked to indicate their preference of film format (35mm, 120, or 4x5) from one of the six available emulsion types.

Available Kodak Professional Film Emulsions:

• Portra 160
• Portra 400
• Ektar 100
• Tri-X 400 / 320
• T-MAX 100
• T-MAX 400

Visionary Project Award (x2)

The Visionary Award is designed to support photographers in their continued use of Kodak Professional Film within their photographic practice. The proposed project can be a new or ongoing project. Open to all emerging or established photographers worldwide, 18 years old or older.

There will be two Visionary Project Award winners selected during each submission period.

Applicants to the Visionary Project Award can choose to receive one of the following options:

100 rolls of 35mm

100 rolls of 120

200 sheets of 4x5 film

Student Project Award

The Student Project Award is designed to help student photographers begin or continue a film photography project using Kodak Professional Film. Open to students worldwide, 18 years old or older.

You must be currently enrolled at an institution of higher education at the time of submission. You do not need to be studying photography specifically to be considered. A scanned image of your student ID is required to verify current enrollment status.
 

Applicants to the Student Project Award can choose to receive one of the following options:

100 rolls of 35mm

100 rolls of 120

200 sheets of 4x5 film

*The winner of the Student Project Award will also receive a 4x5 view camera from Standard Cameras.

 

Spring 2022 Jury:

Guest Juror: Barbara Tannenbaum, Chair of Prints, Drawings, and Photographs and Curator of Photography, The Cleveland Museum of Art
Alumni Juror: Susan Worsham, Visionary Project Award recipient, Spring 2019
& founder of the Film Photo Award, Eliot Dudik.

Spring 2022 -- Important Dates: 

Proposal Submissions Open:  January 23, 2022

Proposal Submission Deadline:  March 6, 2022  11:59pm EST (New York, NY) 

Awards Announced: Mid-April 2022

Awarded Film Shipped: May 2022 

Guidelines  

• The Film Photo Award is open to all emerging, established, and student photographers worldwide, 18 years of age or older.
   
• All applications to the Film Photo Award must be completed through the online submission portal. Submissions by any other means will not be accepted or reviewed. All application materials must be written in English.
   
• Applications are accepted at any time between the opening and closing of the award cycle. It is recommended to apply well in advance of the deadline to avoid any technical problems. The submission platform closes precisely at 11:59pm EST on the final day of the submission period. All applications must be successfully submitted before that time.  The submission platform will not be reopened for any reason.
   
• The jury is composed of industry leaders, Film Photo Award staff, and past Film Photo Award recipients.  Check the website for details on this session's jury. Results of the Film Photo Award are final. Feedback on submitted proposals is not possible at this time.
   
• Applicants will be considered on the basis of artistic excellence and the promise of future achievement.
   
• Past recipients are ineligible to receive the Film Photo Award again for three years.
   
• Recipients receive complimentary film processing from Griffin Editions in New York City for film awarded through the Film Photo Award during their 1-year award period only. Other Griffin Editions services such as scanning, printing, mounting, and framing, as well as shipping to and from the lab are not included in the award. Recipients are welcome to process their awarded film at any lab of their choosing, however Griffin Editions is the best and it’s free.
   
• Each recipient will be asked to donate one print to the Film Photo Award Archive at the conclusion of their one-year grant period. The print should be representational of the work made with the award. The goal is to create and document important work being made with film in the 21st century, and to ultimately place the Film Photo Award Archive in a permanent institutional collection some time in the future.
   
• Recipients of the Film Photo Award agree to commence or continue the work proposed in their submission during the year following receipt.
   
• Recipients will participate in an interview to be published on the Film Photo Award website approximately 8 months after receiving the award including a feature of select photographic work made with the awarded film.

For any questions, please visit the Film Photo Award website, and please first review the FAQ.
If an answer is not found, email us at shoot@filmphotoaward.com or by using the online form.

Application Requirements

Requirements 
The online submission form will require the materials listed below. Use this as a checklist to make sure you have everything you need. Specific material requirements are explained below, please read carefully so that your work can be properly considered.  Thanks!

1. Project Proposal
2. CV, Resume, or Bio
3. Images (up to 15)
4. Submission Fee (Visionary Project Award: $35, Student Project Award: $25)
*Students must upload a current scan of their student ID

1. Project Proposal
The Project Proposal should be a clear and concise explanation of a film-based project that the award will be used to create or continue.  

The proposal should:

• Not exceed 4000 characters.
  (4000 characters is approximately 1 single-spaced Microsoft Word page)
• Provide an overview of the project idea.
• Include any relevant background research the applicant has conducted.
• Provide a thoughtful plan for completing the proposed project or portion of the project with awarded film (to be completed within the award year).
• Explain the significance of the project.
  Why should this work be made now?

2. CV, Resume, or Bio (PDF)

• Not to exceed 2 pages.
• You are welcome to provide either a standard CV/Resume in list format or a narrative biography.
• Clear and concise is most important.

Filename: LastName_FirstName_CV.pdf
Example: Doe_Jane_CV.pdf

3. Images (JPEG)
Applicants can submit 1-15 images that are representative of either recent past projects (within the last 5 years) or a current project you are continuing.

Image file specifications:

• 1-15 JPEG files sized at 1200 pixels on the longest dimension and saved at 72 ppi.
• Past work examples can be any variety of visual imagery.  Image examples do not need to be film-based images to be considered, however your proposal should explain why Kodak Professional Film is the right material for you now.

Filenames: LastName_FirstName_Number.jpg
Example: Doe_Jane_01.jpg, Doe_Jane_02.jpg, Doe_Jane_03.jpg, etc.
This file naming system is important, make sure you follow it carefully. 

4. Submissions Fee
A small submission fee is required to complete an application.  Applicants must complete the submission fee when prompted by the online form. The form will not accept your application without payment and no uploaded materials will be reviewed unless your application is officially submitted through the online form. If you are a student, please have a jpeg image file of your student ID ready to upload for proof of enrollment.

• Visionary Project Award (Non-Students): $35
• Student Project Award: $25

For any questions, please visit the Film Photo Award website, and please first review the FAQ.
If an answer is not found, email us at shoot@filmphotoaward.com or by using the online form.


The Film Photo Award is generously supported by Griffin Editions, Cassilhaus, Kodak, and Standard Cameras.  Make sure to show them some love in return for their support of our creative pursuits. 

Eligibility Criteria

Open to any photographer, 18 years old or older, worldwide.