cortona on the move / bartur grant 2025

Cortona On The Move and the BarTur Photo Award are proud to announce their partnership to present the Cortona On The Move | BarTur Grant. Supported by the Visual Storytellers Fund, this initiative aims to support photographers worldwide by providing grants and resources to create compelling documentary photo essays. The Grant focuses on projects that illuminate urgent social, environmental, economic, and cultural issues of our time.

Photographers are invited to submit proposals for in-progress documentary projects that align with the fund's central themes. The grand prize winner and the two emerging photographer winners will be announced at Cortona On The Move Festival in July 2025. The winners will have nine months to complete their project, with the final work submitted by 15th March 2026. The completed work will be exhibited at the 2026 edition of Cortona On The Move, along with the two winning works by emerging photographers, offering a global stage to amplify their story. The Grant will cover the travel and accommodation for the winners to attend the opening ceremony of Cortona On The Move 2026.

Submissions are assessed on intellectual and substantive merits, as well as:

• Creativity and Originality: The uniqueness of the approach and a compelling narrative.
• Relevance: Alignment with the competition's thematic areas (urgent social, environmental, economic, or cultural issues).
• Technical and Aesthetic Excellence: The quality of the imagery and storytelling.
• Potential Impact: The project's capacity to engage audiences and inspire meaningful dialogue.
• Feasibility: The clarity of the budget, timeline, and methodologies proposed.