Shortlisted nominees: The Visionary Award by The Tim Hetherington Trust 2018
Five artists shortlisted for £20,000 award
The Tim Hetherington Trust is very proud to introduce five modern communicators who are nominated fro the Visionary Award 2018. Working in a variety of media three of the five nominees started their projects as journalists, (Assia Boundaoui, Oscar Castillo and Daniel Castro Garcia) but as their investigations developed the constraints of conventional journalism proved too limiting and they have each found dynamic ways to expand the scope of their work in ways that would be hard to categorise and would likely challenge the standard formats of most conventional news organizations. One nominee might recognised by many as an artist (Laia Abril) and the fifth (People's Culture) defines itself as an arts collective. All are working in fact-based media but share a common goal to achieve change, which each in their own way they realise is not possible with purely descriptive formats; by using facts to express deeper truths these projects communicate about intangible realities such as the motivations, fears, hopes and every range of human emotions that drive actual behaviour in the real world.
We at The Tim Hetherigton Trust realise that while these five projects will tip the balance somehow, somewhere for some people, this is just a small part of a much larger movement of innovative communicators who are working to reinvent visual media in meaningful ways. Over one hundred expert nominators on five continents contributed suggestions for the Visionary Award and each one of these is worth promoting; but with limited resources we must focus our energies on what is possible for this organisation while enthusiastically applauding the work of all those who were put forward for this award and also the energy of other foundations engaged in similar efforts. The Prince Claus Fund, The Open Society Foundations, The Magnum Foundation, the Catchlight Fellowships and the Chris Hondros Fund to name but a few, together we can make a difference. So please appreciate the extraordinary work of the five nominees listed here but look for and support the wider effort of a new generation of communicators and their sponsors who are attempting to do no less than to change the world.
Visionary Award shortlisted artists
Laia ABRIL
History Of Mysogeny, Chapter 2: Rape Culture
Assia BOUNDAOUI
Oscar CASTILLO
Daniel Castro GARCIA
PEOPLE'S CULTURE
About the judges
MICHELLE BOGRE: an Associate Professor of Photography at Parsons School of Design, is a documentary photographer, copyright lawyer and author. Her most recent book, Documentary Photography Reconsidered will be published by Bloomsbury Press in Fall, 2018. Her first book, Photography as Activism, published by Focal Press, was selected by Rice University in Texas as the Fall 2014 Common Reading, which is a practice of selecting one book to be read by all incoming students. She regularly writes and speaks about copyright and photography. She is currently working on two long term documentary projects.
GREG BROCKETT: As a Curator at the Imperial War Museums (IWM), I work to develop collections that will help our audiences to understand and contextualise current, recent and future conflict that are significant to the UK; collecting material that reflects different angles, perspectives and voices. My previous projects at IWM include: the redevelopment of our American Air Museum, the archiving of over 18,000 reels of film produced by the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) and the Unlocking Film Heritage project, which was undertaken in collaboration with the British Film Institute (BFI). I have also written freelance interpretation and online articles based on archival collections.
IDIL IBRAHIM: an award-winning filmmaker based in New York but working worldwide. Idil has worked on and produced film projects that have gone on to screen at the top international film festivals such as the International Film Festival Rotterdam, Toronto International Film Festival, Los Angeles Film Festival, Cinéma du Réel in Paris, and Sundance Film Festival, among others. A graduate of UC Berkeley, her work has led her around the world and extensively throughout Africa. She is a recipient of the prestigious 92Y’s Extraordinary Women Award for 2017 and was selected as one of OkayAfrica’s “100 Women” for 2018.
ALEXANDER PORTER: Co-Founder at DepthKit, Partner at Scatter. DepthKit is a Brooklyn, New York based company shaping the future of virtual reality content creation through cutting-edge technology and frictionless design tools. Our first product is the world’s most widely used volumetric capture technology. DepthKit enables anyone to easily create volumetric video virtual reality experiences fusing the worlds of filmmaking and video game design.
About the Visionary Award
The Visionary Award by the Tim Hetherington Trust is designed to foster innovative approaches to visual storytelling by incubating visionary individuals and offer inspiration to others by example. Visual artists and journalists whose thinking and process reach beyond the limitations of conventional media practice to create engaging and dynamic communication pieces. In addition to the financial award the Trust will consult with the successful grantee to find a mentor or technical partner to help expand the scope of the project beyond initial expectations. We will work as a team with the successful candidate to make something very special. More details are available on any of these projects and the Trust Is ready to facilitate contact with the artists, now and beyond the immediate parameters of the Visionary Award.