At the heart of their mission is to promote creative photography as an art to improve lives and bring about a radical change in the world – that’s Alexia Foundation. They wholeheartedly support visual storytellers and communicators — their projects and proposals and experience at all levels, to share their chronicles with the world.
Subtle, dark, moving, and sharp images capture human emotions beautifully and can bring about world movements through strong decisions and policy-making by federal bureaucrats. Over the decades, photo-journalists have been sharing happy and painful graphic stories about affluence and poverty; health and disease; celebrations and mournings; victories and losses; births and deaths; hope and anguish; history and the contemporary; community divide and inequities; communal, social, domestic violence and peace, and so much more. Photographers have an interesting narrative to share with the rest of the world. They intend to start a community conversation through poignant pictures.
Alexia Foundation helps these budding artists find their voice and give it a beautiful expression through still photography and powerful imagery to present socially relevant topics and drive change towards world peace. The Foundation supports and encourages them to leave an impact in the world through their work and be agents for change by bridging the gaps and promoting peaceful coexistence through their inspiring work.
Creativity, unfortunately, can thrive and come to full bloom only when nothing is obstructing its path. Financial crunches can be a big reason to stop promising visual artists and lensmen from realizing their full potential. Here’s where we speak of the Foundation’s Student Grant programs.
Types of Grants Offered
Alexia offers two types of grant programs, one for college students and the other for professionals. The student grants is for college students who share Alexia’s vision of promoting world peace and cultural understanding through visual imagery. Students must present their body of work that would showcase their attempt to bring about a change for a better world.
Professional grants are allotted for photojournalists and professional photographers who share Alexia’s mission and vision to spread world peace and cultural understanding through empowering visual content.
Know the Requirements
Student applicants are encouraged to consider settings closer to their place of residence so that accessibility does not become a sore point while producing their work. Grantees begin their work the sooner they receive funding. Recipients receive a fellowship for their tuition and fees during their semester at the Newhouse School. They also earn the opportunity to work as a research assistant to Alexia’s director on a stipend of $1000. If you are a professional, you can receive up to $20,000 in funding.
Students and professionals are both required to submit a synopsis, a proposal, a resume, and a body of impressive work that aligns with Alexia’s mission. You may submit a collection of 20 photographs but that’s not binding. You may additionally submit story forms in other media like audio, video, VR, or any other visual format.
Panelists take a call after evaluating the strength of your written proposal and skills in the visual arts.
Learn How to Apply
Know the contest, and mind the deadlines and submission rules before heading straight to create a user’s account on Visura. Professionals will be required to pay $50 as an application fee, but there’s no entry fee for students. You will first need to set up an individual account on . You may get started either with Google or any other email. It takes a minute to set things up and select a plan. Select ‘Dashboard’ and use relevant buttons on it to set up your profile.
In the ‘Add Your Biography’ section, write about yourself and your work experience. Create an inspiring story around your submission. Remember to submit a minimum size of 5000 px for your images. As per the Submission Rules on their official website, you will have to additionally attach a resume, written synopsis, and project proposal.
- Written Synopsis — This is like an elevator pitch that summarizes your project in no more than a five-sentence-long paragraph. This will help to give an idea about the theme of your work to the selectors.
- Proposal – This is a little longer than the synopsis that will throw more light on your project. It should be around 500 words in length. You may choose to explain at length why you selected the theme, how it aligns with Alexia’s mission of world peace, how you continue to work on the project, and what you hope to achieve or accomplish through your contribution. Please do not put a name or an identity to your proposal as all submissions are judged anonymously.
- Resume — This will outline your expertise and professional accomplishments, experience in the field, educational degrees, postal address, email address, phone number, and the contact information of three other references. Letters of recommendation are not accepted.
- Selection of Images — Make sure that you tie them together to present a compelling and relatable story. The 20-image limit is not an absolute one as long as your pictures weave a compelling visual narrative. For more information, visit the link here.
Hit the ‘Create A Submission’ button on the Visura profile page. The ‘Submit A Story’ dialog box opens. Give a suitable caption to your story with a submission statement. Choose the format in which you are attaching your file, for example, .jpg. You can also embed a video by entering the code and pressing the ‘save’ button. ‘Preview’ before pressing ‘Finish Submission’. You can edit your story anytime you want to, even after the submission.
You get confirmation when they accept your submission. For queries or further clarification, you can write to [email protected].
