Sin and Salvation in Baptist Town

Summary:

APhotoADay’s inaugural Backyard Storytelling Grant is a $4,000 grant awarded to a visual storyteller to aid in a project within 350 miles (or roughly one tank of gas) of the journalist’s home.

Our goal is to reward and encourage finding the extraordinary in the ordinary, while also focusing on community. Often time the best stories - the ones that resonate most - are the ones that hit closest to home.

A hand-picked panel of judges from APhotoADay and speakers from GeekFest Oakland 2015 will review the applications and award prizes. On top of that, APhotoADay will help find the completed project a home with at least one prominent industry photo blogs. Yes, think the NYT Lens Blogs and TIME Lightboxes of the world.

Application Process:

In a statement not to exceed 500 words, please describe the project you’re interested in completing. Also include research you’ve made and the ways in which the grant will directly help you achieve your goals. In a bio not to exceed 250 words, please tell us about yourself. Keep it real. Be yourself.

If you haven’t started the project already, but you have a great idea that you need help starting and funding, that’s cool. Please describe how you would approach it, while illustrating some tangible research you’ve done and contacts you’ve made.

In a selection of up to 20 pictures (or a 5 minute sample reel if you’re doing a video project), please show us work that highlights your abilities as they relate to the type of work you’ll be doing.

Photographers and visual journalists from any country may apply for this grant.

Proposals for projects that have already received grants or awards of more than $5,000 in the previous calendar year are not eligible. The grant is awarded to an individual photographer; project proposals that involve multiple content producers will not be accepted.

To submit your project:

Please Dropbox up to 20 sequenced images in a folder titled with your first and last name. For those working on a video project, please include a 5-minute (or less) video that pertains to the story and/or is representative of the work you’re looking to do.

In that folder, include a text document with your statement/proposal. 

Also include three references, along with the following contact info:

• name

• mailing address

• phone number

• email address

• social media handles

You can dropbox your entries to — [email protected]. 

One entry per person.

The deadline for submissions is midnight (PST) on Monday, Aug. 31, 2015. 

The announcement of the winner(s) will be made during GeekFest Oakland (Sept 11-13, 2015).

Life journeys and Culinary Art with @jamespomerantz

To see more moments from James’ culinary journey, follow @jamespomerantz on Instagram.

“When I was very young, I would sit on the kitchen floor with my dog and watch my mom cook,” recalls James Pomerantz (@jamespomerantz). For James, food and family are recurring themes in a life that now takes him around the world as a photographer, after a stint in the restaurant business. “I was young and in a really bad place following my mom’s sudden death and had a tough time taking orders and being responsible,” he explains. “Baking biscotti at 6:00 AM did not fit well into my lifestyle at the time. Usually I got canned or quit after a couple of months.”