The Photo Urbanism Program was founded in 2001 to support the creation of new work that explores New York City’s public space.

2024-2025 Photo Urbanism Call for Fellows

We are looking for photographers to apply for the 2024-2025 Photo Urbanism Fellowship to contribute with their unique lenses about an equitable water future for New York. Water is one of our most important and impactful assets. An Equitable Water Future must recognize that the health of the city’s public life depends on managing the risks of—and benefits of—New York as a water city, including commitment to innovative green infrastructure, well-planned coastal resilience, sustainable buildings, and cultural vibrancy.

Project Overview:

We believe that photography is vital to understanding our shared environment and is a powerful tool for illuminating the city’s complex public realm. The Photo Urbanism Program was founded in 2001 to support the creation of new work that explores New York City’s public space. 

The 2024-2025 Photo Urbanism Fellow will create a self-driven photography project related to an equitable water future for New York. The role of the Photo Urbanism Fellow is to use artistic and journalistic photography/videography to capture the human, personal narratives related to New York City’s water and public space. 

Water has shaped New York City as it exists today. That role continues, as water influences the contours of a global, dynamic city. The enormous pressures being exerted on New York by too much or too little water, by unequal access to water or its poor quality, by insufficient understanding of water—impacts compounded in disadvantaged communities—require a new way to approach environmental planning. The 2024-2025 Photo Urbanism Fellowship seeks nuanced perspectives to inform such a new planning approach. 

Job Description:

The Photo Urbanism Fellow will dedicate 5% of their fellowship to administrative tasks such as attending meetings, invoicing, and tracking expenses; 20% of the fellowship to provide mentorship to young photographers; the remaining 75% will be to developing project work, including, but not limited to, photographing, editing images, developing programming, and exhibition planning.

The fellowship award includes a $15,000 stipend and a solo exhibition.

Deliverables: 

• One week-long intensive photography/videography workshop for 3-4 Youth Photographers

• One full-day workshop for high-school aged youth (around 20 participants).

• One project proposal

• One final solo exhibition - including a written description of work/project, minimum of 5 final images (digital and print; size to be determined)

• At least one program related to project work. For example, an artist’s talk.

Requirements:

The Photo Urbanism Fellow must be based in New York City and be available to participate in meetings with the Design Trust, and NeON Photography. The Design Trust will act as a resource and thought partner and will arrange two critiques with local photographers. The fellowship requires a 10-month commitment, based on a mutually agreed-upon work plan.

Selection Process:

The Photo Urbanism Fellow will be selected by a diverse jury composed of creatives, photographers, and Design Trust Community members, including Latricia Morgan, 2022-23 Photo Urbanism Fellow, Leonardo Bravo, Director of Public Engagement at MoMA, and Jean-Gabriel Neukomm, founding principal at J-G Neukomm Architecture. All applicants will be notified by the first week of September 2024. *Jury still in formation.

Submission Guidelines:

DEADLINE: Sunday, August 11, 2024, before midnight (11:59 pm) Eastern Standard Daylight Time 

ELIGIBILITY: Applicants must be at least 21 years of age and eligible to work legally in the United States. Full-time students are not eligible due to possible time restraints, but part-time students may submit. Applicants must be based in New York City to concentrate on the local content of the fellowship. Applicants with 5-7 years of photography experience preferred. Experience teaching and youth engagement are preferred. The selected fellow must be able to commit to a 10-month long fellowship, with an average time commitment of 8 - 12 hours a week starting in September. 

MATERIALS: All application materials must be submitted to fellowship@designtrust.org by 11:59 pm (before midnight) on Sunday, August 11, 2024. Materials that do not meet the following criteria will not be presented to the jury. 

• Work samples saved as five JPG named “date_location_title”

• A portfolio of five images with date, location and titles showing representative work made within the last three years. Applicants are encouraged to include some images that demonstrate their approach to the urban environment. 

• Written materials saved as one PDF named "lastname_firstname.pdf."

• Project proposal and a brief description explaining your approach to the topic of capturing the essence and stories of water and public space in response to Designing an Equitable Water Future for New York. Explain (a) why you are interested in this topic; (b) what you propose to do; (c) how this topic relates to your work; (d) what experience you have had working with youth or teaching photography. Maximum 300 words. 

• Artist statement describing your approach to photography and the type of camera(s) you use. Maximum 150 words.

• Artist resume including your education, exhibition history, mailing address, and email contact. If applicable online portfolio on website, Instagram, or similar. Maximum one page.

The 2024 Photo Urbanism Fellowship is supported in part by the NYC Department of Cultural Affairs.