السرد القصصي البصري في المجتمع المفتوح

VISUAL STORYTELLING IN AN OPEN SOCIETY

March 2012 – October 2012

APPLICATION DEADLINE: FEBRUARY 12TH, 2012

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Al-liquindoi Workshops, Contemporary Image Collective (CIC) and NOOR announce Visual Storytelling in an Open Society, a six-month training opportunity for documentary photographers and photojournalists in Egypt. This program is supported by a grant from Open Society Foundations.

The program will provide fully funded training and support to 15 photographers who are interested in visually documenting issues of importance in Egypt and the region. Participants will receive two six-day master-level workshops on visual storytelling that will be led by three internationally recognized photographers and industry professionals who will then provide on-going mentorship and support throughout the six-month term.

Program details
The training program will provide the 15 participating photographers with:
- The opportunity to work, long-term, on one specific story idea.
- Three leading photographers and industry professionals as workshop instructors and mentors.
- Two advanced six-day training workshops. One at the start of the term and one at the end.
- Ongoing online mentorship throughout the six-month training period.
- Deadlines to keep your project on track.
- Publicity and promotion of the work produced, nationally and internationally.

Mentors and grantees will participate in two six-day workshops (48 hours each) that will be held at the CIC Photoschool in Cairo. All travel and hotel expenses for those participants coming from outside of Cairo to the workshops will be covered. We will also provide each participant with a per diem to cover meals and incidentals during the workshops.

Workshop I. will take place in March 2012. Mentors will guide the participants on effective visual storytelling. There will be shooting and editing exercises, and examples of different formulas for using multimedia. There will also be basic training in captioning, organizing and archiving images. The workshop seminars will cover documentary photography and advocacy, freedom of expression and independent media, the importance and need for reliable information, the role of social media and citizen journalism and ways that it can be used effectively by the professional media. We will also discuss the different risks and security issues that photographers face and the need for transparency in journalism, especially when advocating for a free press and an open society. We will discuss the role and benefits of visual storytelling and how it can be most effective in the national context and also internationally. During this first workshop each person’s story idea will be discussed in the group and participants will be introduced to various approaches to their chosen subject matter.

On-line Mentorship. By the end of the first workshop all participants will be prepared to start working on their stories. Each participant will be assigned one of the mentors. An on-line platform will be the vehicle for communication between mentors and participants. This platform will provide a space for participants to up-load and store their photographs on-line. Mentors will be able to review the work and make edits that can be saved and archived accordingly. A schedule will be made and participants will be required to upload twice a month for editing and critique. Dialogue between mentors and participants about the work in progress will happen via Skype and email.

Workshop II. will take place in October 2012. Participants will bring all of the material they have produced for their stories to this workshop. This material can include text, audio and video if used. Mentors will work with each person individually to edit the final stories. We will have technical assistance at this workshop to provide training on image post-production and different formulas for multimedia presentations if needed. Photo-editors with the national press will be invited to the workshop to review the final stories. We will offer the group an analysis of today’s media outlets, both national and international, and channels for distribution and how they can be accessed.

Publicity and Promotion
Upon completion of the project, Al-liquindoi Workshops will publish grantees’ final projects its web site. Al-liquindoi, CIC and NOOR will promote the projects through their mailing lists and social network channels, and help facilitate connections with the national press and international photo editors, curators, festivals, and exhibitions so that the work gets seen by a broader audience.

Rights to Work and Licensing
By participating in this program, you grant Al-liquindoi Workshops, CIC, NOOR and any of the program’s donor organizations (in this case Open Society Foundations) the right to use for promotional and commercial-free online/Web use only, a non-exclusive, royalty-free, irrevocable, perpetual, sub-licensable, and worldwide license to the images you create during the program.

In the context of the Visual Storytelling in an Open Society program, Al-liquindoi Workshops, CIC and NOOR may publish, distribute, and make derivative works from your selection of photographs available on the Internet.

If any of the partner organisations want to use, licence or release the images you create during the program for web, print and/or exhibition use in a commercial manner, a separate agreement will be negotiated between the photographer and said entity.

No partner shall be liable for any additional payments to any of the grantees, including for so-called moral rights, beyond payments stipulated in individual photographer agreements.

Who can apply
- The program is open to Egyptian nationals and residents in Egypt only.
- Applicants must currently reside in Egypt or, if they are an Egyptian national living outside, they must have a commitment to documenting stories from Egypt and the region.
- Applicants from other countries who are residents in Egypt are eligible if they can demonstrate a long-term commitment to the country (having lived and worked there for an extended time, for example).
- We will accept applications from both emerging and well-established documentary photographers, working press photographers, photography students at the university level, and citizen journalists who are working with the visual medium. Print journalists with an interest and knowledge in photography may also apply.
- Applicants must speak Arabic and/or English.
- Candidates must commit to participating in the entire program. They must be able to attend both six-day workshops (in March and October, 2012) and communicate consistently with their mentors over the six-month mentorship period.

How to apply
Applications should be sent via email to Jessica Murray at: Jessica@al-liquindoi.com. You will receive an email confirmation within five days of having sent the application. If you do not receive an email confirmation please contact us immediately.

Applications should include
1. Full name, telephone, email, address, and resident ID number or passport number.
2. One page written description of your experience with photography, why you are interested in participating in this program and how you hope to benefit from it. Please include a copy of your professional CV if you have one.
3. One page written description of your proposed story idea.
4. A portfolio of 15 – 20 photographs (LOW RESOLUTION 425 x 624 pixels) Portfolios should reflect your photographic interests and style. Ideally they should include projects shot over a significant period of time and be edited in the form of a photographic essay.
5. A link to your photography website or Blog when available.

Selection Process
All applications will be carefully reviewed by a jury of five, including members of the three partner organizations, plus outside reviewers familiar with the region. Applicants will be judged on the strength of their photographs, the relevance and originality of their proposed story idea and their potential for professional growth.

History and Background of Visual Storytelling in an Open Society
At the heart of this training program is the desire to support creative work that uses photography as a means of critically exploring current social, economic and political issues in Egypt today. With the dramatic changes of the past year, there are hopes for a new era in politics and society and for increased freedom of expression. Photographers are on the frontline of life, witnessing and documenting events close-up and transmitting images to a wider audience in a manner, which can, if done well, have a lasting impact. This program has been created to support photographers in Egypt who will contribute to civil society at home, and when appropriate bring those issues to an international stage through longer term documentary work rather than spot news photography. Based on our experience organizing workshops and training programs, photographers have the best chance for personal and professional growth through long-term guided development, project assistance, professional education and interaction with other professionals in the field. We are also responding to a lack of affordable, advanced training programs for photographers in Egypt, which will enable them to compete in local and international markets.

Each of the three partner organizations has something particular to offer the training program and its participants:

Al-liquindoi Workshops www.al-liquindoi.com works with some of the leading photographers and industry professionals in the field. It has been organizing workshops and long-term training programs and support for photographers around the world for the past decade.

Contemporary Image Collective (CIC) www.ciccairo.com is an independent non-profit art initiative founded in Cairo in 2004. CIC’s mission spans contemporary art and educational programming that responds to and develops artistic practice, engagement, and discourse. Since its’ founding by a group of artists and photographers who today make up its Board of Trustees, CIC has a special interest in the roles of the photographic image at large.

NOOR www.noorimages.com is an international photo agency and foundation headquartered in Amsterdam and is made up of twelve photographers: Nina Berman, Philip Blenkinsop, Pep Bonet, Andrea Bruce, Giancarlo Ceraudo, Alixandra Fazzina, Jan Grarup, Stanley Greene, Yuri Kozyrev, Kadir van Lohuizen, Jon Lowenstein and Francesco Zizola. NOOR seeks to contribute to a growing understanding of the world by producing independent in-depth visual reports that stimulate positive social change, and impact views on human rights and other issues of global concern. Educational initiatives are at the core of the NOOR foundation’s activities, encouraging and supporting young aspiring photojournalists particularly in the developing world and in places where photography education is scarce.

Program Director
Jessica Murray, director Al-liquindoi
e. Jessica@al-liquindoi.com
t. +34 635 798 378
s. jessicamurray

CIC contact information
Silvia Mollicchi
e. courses@ciccairo.com
t. 010 1173 8115

NOOR contact information
Claudia Hinterseer, director NOOR
e. office@noorimages.com
t. +31 206 164 040