Getty Images have selected photojournalists Magnum’s Alex Majoli and Paolo Pellegrin as recipients of the first two of five 2009 professional editorial photography grants. Students of Germany’s Fachhoshchule Hannover (University of Applied Arts and Sciences) and the London College of Communications won two of four 2009 student grants.
Winning professional photographers receive $20,000, while student grants are $5,000 each. Winners in both categories also receive support from Getty Images photo editors.
Both Majoli and Pellegrin are represented by Magnum Photos. Majoli will continue his work on “Requiem in Samba,” which depicts the lives of the poor in Brazil, where warring factions, drug trafficking and the AID epidemic have resulted in death and devastation. Pellegrin intends to use the grant to complete “Iraqi Refugees,” which documents the people fleeing the war or displaced by ethnic cleansing.
The winning work on German student Andy Spyra, “Kashmir Conflict,” examines the effects of the ongoing clash between India and Pakistan on the population and culture of Kashmir. Bolivia-born and U.K.-educated Maximiliano Braun began “Stay With Me” in South Africa; he will use his Getty student grant to photograph U.K. families caring for relatives with severe brain damage.
Getty said it received a record number of proposals this year: 215 professional and 46 student applications were submitted for consideration by a judging panel that included TIME magazine chief picture editor Alice Gabriner, Aperture Magazine editor-in-chief Melissa Harris and Magnum photojournalist Susan Meiselas.
The five remaining grants will be announced in September. Applications are due May 15.