Women Photograph + Leica Project Grants 2026

Women Photograph is a non-profit founded in 2017 to elevate the work of women and nonbinary visual journalists. Its annual Project Grants, partnered with Leica, fund documentary photography projects from underrepresented practitioners across the discipline. The 2026 cycle awards three grants of $10,000 USD each, with applications opening May 20 and closing June 30, 2026 at 11:59 PM ET.

The grants are open to women, nonbinary, transgender, and intersex documentary photographers of any nationality, regardless of Women Photograph membership. Applications are submitted in English, though machine translation is accepted. Only one submission per applicant is permitted, and applicants must designate still photography as their primary medium; video and multimedia work may be referenced via links but is not the focus of the grant.

Funding is targeted at the hard costs of reporting: travel, fixers, equipment rental, photographer fees, and other production expenses tied to making new work. Books, exhibitions, workshops, and secondary outputs are explicitly outside the scope. Both new projects and ongoing long-term documentary projects are eligible, provided the applicant can demonstrate substantial existing work and a clear sense of what remains to be made.

Strong applications submit a story rather than a portfolio of single images, and reviewers look for engagement with the communities being documented beyond traditional journalistic distance. Any use of generative AI in submitted work must be disclosed clearly. Applications are made through Picter; there is no fee.