Grants of $100,000 collectively are awarded to four photojournalists and Chris Hondros fund

Singapore – 7 September, 2012 – Getty Images today announced the four photojournalists that have been selected to each receive a grant of US$20,000, as well as collaborative editorial support from Getty Images, to pursue their documentary photography projects. In addition, a grant of $20,000 has been presented in partnership with the Chris Hondros Fund, in remembrance of Getty Images’ photojournalist Chris Hondros, who was tragically killed last year in Libya. The grant provided to the Fund will go towards raising awareness and educating the public about photojournalism, as well as providing direct support in the form of fellowships and awards.

The winning photojournalists and corresponding projects are:

• Bharat Choudhary from India for The Silence of Others
• Kosuke Okahara from Tokyo, Japan for Fragments/Fukushima
• Paolo Marchetti from Rome, Italy for FEVER – The Awakening of European Fascism
• Sebastian Liste, born in Spain but living in Brazilfor The Brazilian Far West

Aidan Sullivan, Vice President, Photo Assignments, Editorial Partnerships and Development at Getty Images, commented: “I am thrilled that our editorial photography grants programme continues to empower photojournalists and enable them to bring these important visual essays to the world’s attention. I am particularly encouraged to see that this year the grants have been awarded to young, less-established photojournalists, which shows the industry is still attracting new talent. The grant will greatly benefit them in not only their pursuit of highlighting such complex global concerns, but will also offer global recognition and financial support as they embark on their careers.”

Sullivan continues: “The programme continues to garner incredible interest from the photojournalism community; the judging panel carefully considered 328 applications and proposals, received from 60 countries around the world. This year’s projects deal with a range of compelling and multifaceted issues, from the devastation caused by the Japanese natural disasters to modern day slavery in Brazil.”

The panel of esteemed judges included:

• Whitney Johnson, Director of Photography, The New Yorker
• Kira Pollack, Director of Photography, TIME Magazine
• Jean-Francois Leroy, Director, Visa Pour l’Image
• Barbara Griffin, Senior Vice President of Image Management, Turner Broadcasting Systems
• Stephanie Sinclair, Photographer, VII

Click here to view the judges‘ biographies.

The Getty Images Grants for Editorial Photography was established in 2004, to enable emerging and established photojournalists to pursue projects of personal and editorial merit, focusing attention on significant social and cultural issues. Since 2005, Getty Images has provided Grants in excess of US$800,000 through the grants programme, demonstrating their commitment to promoting excellence in photojournalism through tangible, positive contributions to the industry.

More information about the judges, the grant recipients and their winning projects, as well as galleries of their portfolio, can be found at www.gettyimages.com/grants.

About Getty Images

Getty Images is one of the world’s leading creators and distributors of still imagery, video and multimedia products, as well as a recognized provider of other forms of premium digital content, including music. Getty Images serves business customers in more than 100 countries and is the first place creative and media professionals turn to discover, purchase and manage images and other digital content. Its award-winning photographers and imagery help customers produce inspiring work which appears every day in the world’s most influential newspapers, magazines, advertising campaigns, films, television programs, books and Web sites. Visit Getty Images at www.gettyimages.com to learn more about how the company is advancing the unique role of digital media in communications and business, and enabling creative ideas to come to life.  Additional information on how Getty Images inspires and powers communications can be found on The Getty Images Blog at blog.gettyimages.com as well as on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com and Twitter at www.twitter.com/gettyimages.com.