AFAC: The Arab Documentary Photography Grant Program

AFAC: The Arab Documentary Photography Grant Program

Status: ACTIVE
Funder: Arab Fund for Arts and Culture
Amount: US $7,000
Last Updated: October 06, 2025

Summary

The Arab Documentary Photography Grant Program, launched by the Arab Fund for Arts and Culture and the Prince Claus Fund, supports emerging photographers in the Arab region. It aims to foster socially engaged storytelling and enhance creative documentary practices. The program offers grants of up to $7,000 for projects lasting 10 months, along with mentorship and workshops. The initiative not only nurtures individual talent but also promotes cultural exchange and awareness, reinforcing the importance of diverse narratives in visual media.

Overview

Background The Arab Fund for Arts and Culture and the Prince Claus Fund in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, in partnership with the Magnum Foundation in New York City, USA, launched the Arab Documentary Photography Program (ADPP) in 2014, a program that is jointly funded by AFAC and Prince Claus Fund, and supports creative documentary photographers in the Arab region. Recognizing the image's power to document, educate, and advocate, the Arab Documentary Photography Program’s incentive has always been to foster creative photography practices in the Arab world and to encourage the transmission of critical, socially engaged, and local stories. Looking back at the past cycles of the program, we are convinced that it remains essential for nurturing free expression, amplifying unheard narratives, and raising the level of creative documentary photography in the Arab region and beyond. However, we recognize that one-time support can only go so far; which is why, on the occasion of the program’s tenth cycle anniversary, we launched the Arab Documentary Photography Program Alumni Fellowship. As the ADPP continues to support emerging photographers from the Arab region, the ADPP Alumni Fellowship is committed to accelerating the careers of the program alumni by providing them with the support and resources they need while facilitating further regional and international exchanges between established and emergent photographers. ADPP for Emerging Photographers Documentary photography sheds light on important neglected and unknown narratives. The Arab Documentary Photography Program has been dedicated to supporting unconventional, compelling, non-stereotypical visual documentation of social issues and narratives relevant to the Arab region. The program has proved itself to be a major springboard to emerging Arab photographers, granting access to the needed resources and adequate professional support to initiate and complete compelling documentary photography projects. Even so, structural issues remain, and documentary photography practices tend to stand overlooked. With every new cycle of the Arab Documentary Photography Program, we commit to continuing the urgent work of providing support to documentary photographers in the region. If you are a documentary photographer who works with creative photography practices in the Arab world and transmits critical and socially engaged local stories, we encourage you to apply tothe Arab Documentary Photography Program. The ADPP explores ways by which documentary photography can reach out to wider audiences and engage with them in an impactful way. Photographers may propose to work in a range of non-fiction narrative styles, from classic documentary photography to more experimental visual storytelling, and may propose to include audio and video elements. The program provides up to 8 photographers with a $7.000 grant to work on their projects in their country of residence over a period of 10 months. The grant may be used to begin a new project or to complete work on an existing project. In addition, ADPP grantees will benefit from mentorship provided by distinguished program mentors and will be required to attend three specialized workshops (two in-person and one virtual) to help them develop and produce their projects and consider avenues for distribution. Photographers can apply to the ADPP in either English or Arabic. To facilitate exchanges, access to translations will be provided throughout the program.

Eligibility

You can learn more about this opportunity by visiting the funder's website. This grant is open to applicants from, living and working in the Arab region, irrespective of ethnicity, gender, or religion.Emerging photographers with limited portfolios are eligible to apply.Photographers who have not specialized in documentary photography will be considered as long as the proposed work is documentary in nature.Technical familiarity with photography is required.Applicants must be independent, i.e. they must possess full copyright ownership of the project they are applying with.Each applicant is entitled to only one application in the same category.

Ineligibility

Journalists or activists who have not had experience with photography are not eligible to apply.Ineligible CandidatesMembers of AFAC Board of Trustees and staff members, their business partners, or family members;AFAC staff members, their business partners or family members.Members of the current year’s ADPP readers and jurors’ committee;Applicants(s) who live, partially or fully, outside the Arab region;Recipients of two AFAC consecutive grants unless two years have passed since the last grant (e.g. If a grantee received grants in both 2017 and 2018, they can apply again in 2021);Applicants with an open grant with AFAC;AFAC will not provide support retroactively to projects that have already been completed.Applicants who have received a Seed Award in 2024 or a Mentorship Award from the Prince Claus Fund;Previous ADPP grantees;