OSI Documentary Photography Project Distribution Grant Winners Announced

The Open Society Institute's Documentary Photography Project has announced the recipients of the winter 2006 Distribution Grant competition, which supports photographers who have completed a significant project on social justice or human rights issues, to present the work in innovative ways and reach out to specific audiences to advocate for social change. The aim is to ensure that the work gains critical exposure and has the greatest chance to stimulate change. Each photographer must collaborate with another entity—such as a nonprofit, advocacy, or community-based organization—to distribute the work.

The following photographers were selected:

Alistair Berg will exhibit photographs taken by people living in the townships around Cape Town, South Africa, in the local communities, at outdoor malls and transportation hubs across the country, and via a website.

Karen Furth will produce “Still Life: Documenting Cancer Survivorship”—an educational DVD that documents and enables others to replicate the photography course that Furth organized for cancer survivors—and, in partnership with The Creative Center, distribute it to cancer centers and nonprofits working with cancer survivors.

Jim Goldberg will produce a multimedia exhibit of photographs and oral histories about the immigrant experience in Greece. In partnership with Amnesty International, the work, and an accompanying resources guide, will reach the native and immigrant population of Greece via a traveling van.

Joanne Petrina, in partnership with Sound Transit, will exhibit photographs and organize community forums about the immigrant community in Seattle’s Rainier Valley at several venues in the Rainier Valley neighborhood and the greater Seattle area.

Ryan Reed, in partnership with STAND (Students Taking Action Now for Darfur), will exhibit “ Sudan: The Cost of Silence” at 10 universities in the United States and organize concurrent interdisciplinary symposia, lectures, and community-wide events.

Rojelio Rodriguez: To display at 10 indoor and outdoor community venues photo banners of abandoned parks in Northern Manhattan and organize teach-ins, in partnership with Mindy Fullilove at The Research Group/CLIMB, to mobilize local communities to reclaim and reinvest in their neighborhoods. The project has the support of New York City’s Partnership for Parks.

Fazal Sheik, in partnership with Action Aid, will distribute a series of posters examining the victimization of women in India to schools, libraries, and women’s organizations in rural areas of India that lack access to the Internet, traditional exhibitions, and even books.

Kayana Szymczak and Lou Dematteis will partner with Amazon Watch to exhibit “Crude Reflections: ChevronTexaco’s Rainforest Legacy,” which documents and investigates, through photographs and testimonials, the impact of ChevronTexaco’s oil development on the communities living in the Ecuadorian Amazon. Exhibitions will be held at city halls and outdoor venues in Quito and the Amazon.

For more information on the photographers, please see the Distribution Grantee list.

Homepage background photo © Alistair Berg.