Getty Images : Editorial Grants

Getty Images have announced the first two winners of their grants for editorial photography in 2008, Ian Martin and Lorena Ros will be awarded $20,000 each for their personal photography projects.

Ian Martin’s Project, *Hidden Minority: South Africa’s White Poor*, deals with white poverty in South Africa. Using the grant, he will report on people that earn less than $40 a month. He will spend two months documenting this *minority amongst a minority*. He will use the time to win over the people’s trust, enabling him to peer into their private lives. He wants to show poverty where people least expect it and provide a new and less stunted approach to poverty, regardless of whether it is found amongst white or black populations.

In her project *Silent Witness*, Lorena Ros from Spain will document the effects of sexual abuse amongst children in the USA. Using her grant, she has planned to spend a year interviewing and photographing 30, now adult, victims all over the USA. She wants to show the differences and similarities amongst the victims and has planned to publish the results in a book. In addition to this, the pictures will also feature in a travelling educational exhibition in the USA.

This year, the first round of the Getty Images Grants Programme received 139 applications from 29 countries. The high standard jury was made up of: Simon Barnett (Director of Photography, Newsweek), David Griffin (Director of Photography, National Geographic), Alison Morely (Programme Chair, International Centre of Photography), Rosanna Sguera (Photojournalism Editor, Vanity Fair).

Three further grants will be handed out in September. More information on the grant programme, jury, winning projects and portfolios can be found at:
www.gettyimages.com/editorial-grants