The High Tide by Alejandro Chaskielberg, 2009 grant recipient

As we briefly mentioned in last Friday's week in review, Magnum photographer and burn magazine editor David Alan Harvey has announced that Magnum Photography is now receiving submissions for the 2010 Emerging Photographer Fund. This year's award is $15,000; funding is awarded with the goal of aiding a photographer to complete a personal project. The deadline for submissions is April 15, 2010, with winners to be announced in June.

The jury is typically composed of both Magnum photographers as well as respected members of the gallery and publishing realms. Last year's jurors were: Martin Parr, Gilles Peress, Eugene Richards, Carol Nagar, Fred Ritchin, Maggie Steber, David Griffin, John Gossage and James Nachtwey.

Of the inception of the EPF and burn magazine, David Alan Harvey writes:

I started BURN MAGAZINE just before Christmas 2008. So we have been rocking along now for just over a month. BURN is a spinoff of my 2 year old Road Trips blog which was heavily influenced by both Alec Soth and Martin Fuchs. The very nature of my blog, and the evolving BURN, is a clear educational imperative and so in 2008 I created a $5,000 grant to be given to an emerging photographer who needed financial assistance with a project. Sean Gallagher was the first recipient of the Emerging Photographer Fund grant of $5,000. to continue his environmental series on the "desertification" of China...With the publishing world changing right before our eyes and a recession hanging over most of us, I do see more opportunities than ever before. It will take a quick wit and some nimble thinking and stealth, but I truly believe that the audience will in effect become the publishers. I do see a time for BURN when the online audience will be sufficient enough to create the sponsorship for not only stipends to finish self started projects, but will lead to an annual print publication as well.

Magnum is a hallowed name in the photography world, whose history and trajectory is as complex and fascinating as the members themselves (if you're ever in the mood for a great contextual read on the legendary agency, this is it). A persisting misconception is that Magnum is dedicated to straight documentary work. The award of last year's EPF to Alejandro Chaskielberg, whose work is concerned with the Paraná River Delta and writes that his intention is, "...to work with photography in the border between reality and fiction," should mitigate that point-of-view.

For more information on this fantastic grant, take a look at this entry in burn magazine and the submission form for the competition can be found here.