Jazz Funeral for Frank Dorsey, Mayor of Gert Town, 1973
by Michael P. Smith © The Historic New Orleans Collection

The deadline is approaching fast for the Michael P. Smith Fund For Documentary Photography (MPS Fund).

Michael P. Smith (1937-2008) was a New Orleans native and award-winning professional freelance photographer. Smith photographed every New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival from its inception in 1970 until his retirement in 2004, when he was honored with a major exhibition at the Fair Grounds. In a brilliant career that spanned more than four decades, Smith was an inspiration, a role model, and a mentor to many photographers in New Orleans and beyond.

Created by the New Orleans Photo Alliance (NOPA) to honor Smith’s life and work, the MPS Fund is open to both emerging and established photographers residing in the Gulf Coast states of Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Florida. Don’t miss your opportunity to apply.

What you get: $5000
Who can apply: Photographers residing in the Gulf Coast states of Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, and Florida
How much you pay: Application fee: $25 + NOPA membership: $60.
Who’s gonna see your work: Tom Rankin, the Director of the Center for Documentary Studies at Duke University, will be the finalists’ juror. The preliminary panel that will select the finalists includes Stella Kramer, independent editor, editor of Fraction J; Gina Martin, Photographer Representative, National Geographic Image Collection; and Kevin Miller, Director of the Southeast Museum of Photography.
When’s the deadline: February 28, 2011

Last year, Jonathan Traviesa (who will be featured on One, One Thousand in March) won the grant for his project of environmental portraits, "New Portraits in New Orleans." The MPS Fund’s inaugural juror, Jeff L. Rosenheim, Curator, Department of Photographs at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, selected Traviesa’s project from ten finalists.

To learn more about the MPS Fund, please visit the New Orleans Photo Alliance’s Michael P. Smith Fund page. For additional information, please contact Lori Waselchuk at 225-907-6695.

Also, be sure to check out the rest of the New Orleans Photo Alliance’s website. NOPA is a diverse group of photographers who joined forces in 2006 to create unity and opportunity for photographers in the Gulf South. Since its inception, NOPA has sponsored photographic exhibitions, workshops, and educational programs. It also coordinates PhotoNOLA, the annual photography festival held each December at venues throughout New Orleans.

"The greatest thing a human soul ever does in this world is to see something, and tell what it saw in a plain way. Hundreds of people can talk for one who can think, but thousands can think for one who can see. To see clearly is poetry, prophecy, and religion, — all in one." — John Ruskin

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