Magnum Foundation

Magnum Foundation expands creativity and diversity in documentary photography, activating new audiences and ideas through the innovative use of images. Through grantmaking, mentoring, and creative collaborations, we partner with socially engaged image-makers experimenting with new models for storytelling. Magnum Foundation is committed to supporting a global network of social justice and human rights-focused photographers. They are also active participants in the local arts and activist community on New York City’s Lower East Side. As they expand possibilities for the next generation of photographers, they also work to preserve the histories of humanistic and documentary photography, including the larger Magnum Photos community. Magnum Foundation’s work is grounded in the belief that images are a powerful tool for engaging issues and ideas. Stories told in creative new ways by image makers working within their own communities have the possibility to transform how we see and understand the world.

We’re an organization with a global mission, but it’s also really about local stories and local storytelling and supporting local movements as well… figuring out how the arts can support activism and movement building. We’ve been thrilled to do a lot of projects that are related to the Lower East Side community… with Clayton Patterson, with our neighbor downstairs Alex Harsley… We’ve both worked with our emerging photographers who are documenting the community, and also tried to highlight the roles of people who have been contributing to the community for a very long time. – Kristen Lubben

Magnum Foundation offers production grants for long-term, creative, and socially-engaged projects. The Magnum Foundation offers several grantmaking and fellowship programs to expand diversity and creativity in the field of documentary photography through capacity-building and critical explorations of photography and social change. Magnum Foundation regularly offers free public events and workshops featuring artists and community partners that explore issues of social justice and alternative narratives. They offer internships to individuals that have knowledge in documentary photography, understanding of contemporary global affairs, and an interest in journalism, photography, art, public policy, and social justice movements

For more information on programs and community opportunities, visit their website.