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Grants for Analogue Photography

Analogue Photography

We define analogue photography as the processes that were used for the creation of photographic images before the invention of digital cameras. That can mean 35 mm and medium format film photography, wet plate collodion, daguerreotype, tintype (ferrotype) or pinhole camera photography, but also camera-less processes such as photogram and cyanotype.

What the Grants are for

We give grants to support photographers undertaking analogue photographic projects which fit the Foundation’s charitable purposes, which are:

• to promote, preserve, develop or practise the art of analogue photography

• to support learning in the art of analogue photography.  

Whatever the subject of the project, it must have analogue photography at its heart and it must have a positive outcome for the art of analogue photography.

A successful project will achieve some or all of the following:

• Raise public awareness of analogue photography

• Develop or refine new analogue techniques

• Maintain or develop traditional techniques

• Help other people develop analogue photography skills that keep the practice alive.

This is not a definitive list, we welcome fresh ideas to promote the art and skills of, or the use of, analogue photography.

However, all projects should include an element of learning – whether for you or for other people.

What makes a good project?

Before starting an application, you need to have considered how what you want to do fits the Foundation’s funding requirements and you need to have a clear plan of what you want to do.

What makes a project fit for funding?

Given the strong competition for grants, it is in your interest to come up with a project that is a good fit for what we can fund.

You must be able to show us how your project meets the Foundation’s charitable purposes, so these need to be at the core of your proposal, not just an afterthought. No matter how exciting the subject matter, we only fund projects that benefit analogue photography as an art and a discipline.

If the project you are applying for is part of a wider programme of activities that is relevant to meeting our objectives, do tell us about its context in your application.

We particularly welcome projects which explore, expand and experiment with analogue techniques and which push boundaries. 

We expect projects to pursue excellence in the application of analogue photography and we expect that all applications will take environmental sustainability into account.

You will find illustrations of some of the projects that have benefitted from past grants on the Supported Projects page of the website.

What makes a well-planned project?

A clear plan means you will have thought about and researched what you want to do and how you will go about it. You will have:

• a clear idea of what you want to do and how to achieve it

• explored whether your project is feasible and realistic

• decided a timeframe for it (noting that our grants must be finished within one year of receipt of a grant) 

• identified any risks your project might pose to yourself and others, and how you will mitigate these

• approached and come to an agreement with anybody else you want to involve 

• identified where you will source any materials and equipment

• costed your project, and come up with a budget for it.

A poorly defined project is likely to be rejected. 

Constraints on funding

We impose a small number of constraints on what we will fund:

• Projects must not use any form of digital image processing (Photoshop, Generative A1 etc.)

• Your project must not have already started - although it can be part of a wider programme of ongoing activities.

• Projects must take place in the UK.

• Where projects involve children or vulnerable adults who are not part of your family, those in contact with them must have obtained clearance from the Disclosure and Barring Service or Disclosure Scotland.

• We do not usually support projects to preserve an archive of photographs

• We do not support projects designed to sustain a predominantly commercial, profit-making photography practice.

Please note there may be some elements within projects that we do not fund, or which are discretionary.  See Costs you can and cannot include.

Note also that the constraint on the use of Generative AI also applies to your application. If we discover that your application has been generated by AI it is likely to be rejected as contrary to the spirit of what the Foundation promotes.

Disclaimer on risk

Your project is done entirely at your own risk.  By submitting an application you will comply with the Foundation’s Disclaimer: “All risks whether to the applicant or any third party, whatsoever and wheresoever, remains with the applicant, and the Foundation accepts no liability either to the applicants or any third party carrying out the project for which the grant is given.”