Brandon Thibodeaux - Mississippi 662

Michael P. Smith Fund Accepting Applications for $5,000 Grant

 through March 30, 2015

The New Orleans Alliance (NOPA) is currently accepting applications for the Michael P. Smith Fund for Documentary Photography(MPS Fund) 2015 grant. This fund, established by NOPA to honor the legendary New Orleans photographer Michael P. Smith, awards one $5,000 grant annually to a Gulf Coast photographer whose work combines artistic excellence and a sustained commitment to a long-term cultural documentary project. We are proud to announce our 2015 juror, Emma Reynes, Director of Programs at the Magnum Foundation.

Both emerging and established photographers residing in the Gulf Coast states of Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Florida are eligible to apply. The subject matter for the proposed project, however, is not limited to the Gulf Coast region. NOPA will accept grant applications through March 30, 2015. For submission guidelines and to download an application form, visit the Michael P. Smith Fund’s website at  http://www.neworleansphotoalliance.org/grants/MPS_Fund/index.php.
 

The MPS Fund, founded in 2008, is proud to have supported the work of five documentary photographers: Jonathon Traviesa (New Orleans, LA); Scott Dalton (Houston, TX); Kael Alford (Dallas, TX); Andrew Kaufman (Miami, FL) and Brandon Thibodeaux (Dallas, TX).

As Director of Programs at the Magnum Foundation, Ms. Reynes supports independent photographers to cover under-reported stories and imagine innovative means for distribution and engagement. She is also a member of the faculty at the International Center of Photography in NYC. Emma holds a BA in Art History and an MA in Cultural Anthropology from the New School for Social Research and completed a Hine Documentary Fellowship at Duke University’s Center for Documentary Studies.

The New Orleans Photo Alliance is comprised of a diverse group of photographers who joined forces in 2006 to create unity and opportunity for photographers in the Gulf South. It is an artist-run 501(c)3 nonprofit which currently includes more nearly 400 members from across Louisiana and throughout the United States. NOPA sponsors numerous photographic exhibitions, workshops and educational programs, and coordinates PhotoNOLA, an annual photography festival in New Orleans.

(c) Marc Pagani Photography

New Orleans Photo Alliance members are invited to submit images for a slideshow which will be projected at the Eiffel Society Pay-It-Forward Happy Hour on March 11th. At this mixer, on the eve of the SPE National Conference, a slideshow featuring NOPA members' work will be looping throughout the night.

To have your work included, please submit 5 to 10 images in the following format:

Jpegs sized to fit 1600 x 1045 @ 150dpi

(If you want to display your image uncropped, make the HEIGHT 1045 px. Your image will be displayed with grey borders)

Name the files accordingly:
LAST NAME_FIRST NAME_001 (002, 003, etc.)

Use wetransfer.com to send your files to: seth@neworleansphotoalliance.org

In the message area of wetransfer.com please include your name (as you wish it to appear on the slide) and a website address or email to be shown on slide.

ex:
Jane P. Doe
www.janedoe.net

Deadline for submissions is midnight CST, Wednesday March 4, 2015.

Do NOT email files directly, they will rejected.

Not a NOPA member? Membership lapsed?
Simply join or re-up before submitting your files:
www.neworleansphotoalliance.org/membership

RSVP for the happy hour event here.

Dallas-based photographer Brandon Thibodeaux is the recipient of the NOPA-associated, 2014 Michael P. Smith Fund for Documentary Photography (MPS Fund) Grant, in support of his long-term documentary photo project, "When Morning Comes," which focuses on rural African-American communities in North Mississippi.

The MPS Fund, established by NOPA to honor the life of legendary New Orleans photographer Michael P. Smith, annually grants $5,000 to a Gulf Coast photographer who is working on a long-term cultural documentary project.

Aperture magazine editor Michael Famighetti, who juried the 2014 grant, said of Thibodeaux’s work, “[It] relies on a strong sense of atmosphere, suggestion, and sometimes elliptical narrative. There is a quietness to the work from which it derives its strength.”

Thibodeaux has worked on his project for five years. He initially traveled to the Mississippi Delta region on a soul-searching journey. He writes, “I needed to breathe after my own troubled times. I was in search of something stronger than myself and attended its churches not to photograph but to cry and be redeemed and to just be a part of the place. I was there to listen as I prayed for a revelation.”

Michael Famighetti also selected five photographers to be honored as the 2014 finalists. They are Dominic Bracco II, Katty Hoover, Liz Moskowitz, Bryan Schutmaat and William Widmer.

Thibodeaux (b. 1981), raised in Beaumont, Texas, began his photo career at a small daily newspaper in southeast Texas while studying photography at the city's Lamar University. He now resides in Dallas, where he freelances for clients like Shell Oil, MSNBC.com, Time.com, The New York Times, and The Wall Street Journal, among others.  He is a member of the photography collective MJR, based in New York City.

In 2009 he joined the ranks of the Getty Reportage Emerging Talent.  In 2012 he participated in Review Santa Fe, was awarded second place in the PhotoNOLA Review Awards, was a US winner for the Magenta Foundation’s Flash Forward 2012 and The Oxford American listed him in the 100 Under 100, New Superstars of Southern Art 2012.  His work in the Mississippi Delta won second place in Center's Gallerist Choice Awards, and was selected for the Critical Mass Top 50 Solo Show Award.

To see more images from the grant recipient as well as the finalists, please see the MPS Fund page at the NOPA website.

Images: From Thibodeaux's "When Morning Comes" project.