Following consultation with the Hetherington family, the Tim Hetherington Trust and the World Press Photo Foundation launched a new fellowship in 2016.
Tim was committed to finding new ways to tell compelling stories about politics, conflict, and the human experience, and to relay these stories to a wide audience. The renewed cooperation, instead of providing funds for an individual project, will offer new ways of supporting photographers so we can expand Tim's legacy in new and creative directions.
Together, the World Press Photo Foundation and the Tim Hetherington Trust will support future beneficiaries by focusing on the opportunities for them to be involved in the media economy, either through support for education or by connecting them to the best international networks.
The fellowship will assist visual storytellers by providing access to training or mentorship so they can further their projects and mission. Fellows will become part of sustainable network focused on innovative processes and permanent education. The fellows from each year will become part of the network and will play a role in selecting new fellows. The aim is to grow and strengthen a network of multiple skills that provides on-going support.
The Tim Hetherington Fellowship is an annual award of €5000 made jointly by the directors of the Tim Hetherington Trust and the World Press Photo Foundation. The next recipient will be announced in June 2020. There is no public call or application process. For further information, please contact Stephen Mayes, Executive Director of the Tim Hetherington Trust, info@timhetheringtontrust.org.
In 2018, the fellowship was awarded to Josh Begley. Begley is a data artist and filmmaker based in Brooklyn, New York. Among other achievements, he is the creator of Metadata+, an iPhone app that tracks U.S. drone strikes. The fellowship supports his project on ways of visualising white supremacy in the United States of America.
The 2017 Tim Hetherington Fellowship went to Erika Diettes, to develop her project about violence, mourning and memory in Colombia’s five decade long conflict.
The inaugural 2016 Tim Hetherington Trust / World Press Photo Foundation Fellowship was awarded to Nana Kofi Acquah, to develop his project about gender/women in Africa, thereby contributing to a new African visual voice.
The fellowship replaces the Tim Hetherington Grant, which was awarded from 2011 to 2014 (there was no award in 2015).
'Roots of Africa’s Unholy War' focuses on the Central African Republic (CAR) as it is plunged into the bloodiest crossroads of its short history. In 2013, rebels from the Séléka seized power, unleashing nine months of anarchy.
French photographer William Daniels undertook five trips to CAR during this period to understand and to cover the unfolding drama and the roots of the conflict, which have been under-reported by the media. He wishes to be able to switch perspectives to document the unseen side of the conflict, and to provide an understanding of the country through compassionate imagery. His plan is to present his work in the press, in a New York street exhibition, and in a book.
'Dream of a Rain of Perfume', by French photographer Olivier Jobard, is currently in progress and shows the human face of migration, one of the most urgent global issues of our time. In this project, Jobard follows two young Afghan men whose lives are threatened by the Taliban. In photography and video he chronicles their flight to Europe, from dangerous border crossings to intimate, humorous moments. The project’s title comes from the men’s dream of reaching Paris, a city that, they have heard, helicopters spray with perfume every morning.
'Breaking the Circle' is the continuation of Spanish photographer Fernando Moleres' award-winning 'Juveniles Behind Bars in Sierra Leone' story that aims to explore the harsh conditions minors face while incarcerated in the adult prison of Pademba, Sierra Leone, and follows them in their struggle to adjust to life after being released from prison.
Many juveniles wait for years for their trial, without access to legal assistance; while their families have often rejected them and will not welcome them back home.
The photography and video project also follows the lives of the young former inmates who were taken in under the social rehabilitation program of the nongovernmental organization Free Minor Africa. The program was started by Moleres in the hope of helping the juvenile prisoners in Sierra Leone become part of society again.
'Violentology: A Manual of the Colombian Conflict', by American photographer Stephen Ferry, documents Colombia’s internal armed conflict with a focus on human rights and the struggle of Colombian civilians to resist the violence, often at great risk to their own lives. The project also looks at the history and current dynamics of the war in Colombia, while exposing the role of the distinct parties in the conflict.
Colombia is experiencing one of the longest-running guerilla wars in the world with over 3.5 million people forced to flee the violence. Ferry saw that no comprehensive photographic work existed on the war and decided to move to Colombia. Now, after a decade of photographic fieldwork, the project will be widely distributed across three platforms: an exhibition; a book; and selected chapters in the form of booklets free of charge available as a PDF.