Habitat Photosphere Fellowship for Photography 17-19

Habitat Photosphere is the first Indian photo-festival that brings together the spheres of photography and sustainability through a fellowship, mentorship, exhibitions, workshops, talks and more. As step one, we are calling for applications for Habitat Photosphere Fellowship for Photography 17-19.

Theme: Sustainable Development
4 award grants: Rs 2 lacs each
Jury and mentors: Parthiv Shah, Bandeep Singh, Prabir Purkayashta, Aditya Arya
Winners get exhibition space at India Habitat Centre, New Delhi.

For updates follow -          

Applications closed

The application process for Habitat Photosphere 17-19 has been closed. The jury met in February 2018 to work out the first shortlist (8 candidates) for the Habitat Photosphere Fellowship Award. They will meet all 8 shortlisted photographers individually in March and announce the winners by the end of the month.

The Habitat Photoshphere Fellowship for Photography is a grant aimed at supporting emerging photographers already working on a project, on the subject of sustainability. It is not a portfolio competition.

The award will go to a photographer who demonstrates his/her ability to work on a long-term project by conceiving and writing a concise, focused and meaningful story proposal, with a time frame of approximately one year from start to finish. The accompanying images should justify the written proposal.

A four-member jury committee of experts in photography will select the winners of the Fellowship.

Declaration of winners

The winners will be declared in April 2018, and contacted directly by IHC. The winners will be required to complete their project and submit it to the Visual Arts Gallery of IHC latest by 15 December 2018.

The grant amount will be given to the fellowship winners in four installments over a period of one-year. Before each installment is given, the candidate will have to furnish a one-page progress report and 15 work prints indicating the direction of the project. She/he will be encouraged to meet with the jury members who will mentor her/him through the duration of the fellowship.

Waiver (for photo fellowship winners only)

Please note that the winning photo entries will be in possession of IHC and will not be returned to the winners. After the exhibition, IHC will keep 15-framed images from the final body of the project for its permanent collection.

IHC reserves the right to use the images for promotional and non-commercial purposes. The images can also be used in any IHC publication and as well as its website. However, should the images be reproduced in any medium other than this, the fellowship candidate will be reimbursed for the same.

Visual Arts Gallery and the Fellowship Hall of Fame

The Visual Arts Gallery has been a hub of uninterrupted art activity spanning different genres, and crossing many boundaries. From the visual art to seminars, and now traversing the path of the digital world, the Visual Arts Gallery has a finger on the pulse of contemporary art trends, leading to a sharing and union of energies and ideas. From showcasing two-dimensional works to three-dimensional works, we are trying to bring the best of art traditions both nationally and internationally. There is also an interface between what is termed 'high art' to popular art traditions.

In the last fourteen years, as perhaps the largest non-profit centre in the country, we have been supporting art, crafts, material culture, emerging talent, and also the medium of photography. The immediacy of the medium of photography forms an inherent trajectory of the visual arts. Photography is now a serious art practice and we have hosted works by some of the well-known photographers of the country, namely Amit Pasricha, Amit Mehra, Prabir Purkayastha, among others.
In an effort to promote photography as an art form, the Visual Arts Gallery of IHC instituted an award for photography in the year 2003. Winners till date -

2015 - Monica Tiwari, Shradhha Borawake, Harikrishna Katragadda, KR Sunil
2012 - Arkadripta Chakraborty
2010 - Co- winners Niranjan Ganpati Hosmane and Niha Masih
2010 - Chandan Gomes
2009 - Suruchi Dumpawar
2008 - Sameer Tawde
2007 - Zubin B. Pastakia, while Ashish Patil was recommended for a special showing at the Experimental Art Gallery.
2006 - Neeraj Mahajan
2005 - Sandeep Biswas. Veeresh S Babu received “Special Recommendation for Eye in Progress” to develop his body of works further.
2004 - Sumeet Inder Singh
2003 - Anay Mann