For the past three years I have had the honor of serving as a judge for the Hearst Journalism Awards in the multimedia category. The other judges during my tenure included Kenny Irby, Mark Morris, Danese Kenon and Jarrad Henderson.

Since 2013, MediaStorm has been honored to partner with the International Center of Photography and Harbers Studios to produce films that pay homage to the winners of the annual Infinity Awards for their contributions to the field of photography and visual arts.

In these challenging and uncertain times, MediaStorm is committed to continuing our educational efforts in a safe and responsible manner.

For the foreseeable future, we will be holding all master classes via Zoom video conference. Zoom is an excellent (and free) platform for connecting and collaborating, and we hope that by using it, we can continue to provide you the support you need to keep creating.

We’re living in unprecedented times. Our virtual community is more important than ever, so we’re sending out this note to give you some assurance that we’re here and we’re thinking of ways to support you.

We know that many of the educators in our community are taking the smart step of moving classes to a remote environment, and we’re here to help you make that transition.

The W. Eugene Smith Grant in Humanistic Photography is presented annually to a photographer whose past work and proposed project, as judged by a panel of experts, follows the tradition of W. Eugene Smith’s concerned photography and dedicated compassion evidenced during his 45-year career as a photographic essayist.

This $40,000 grant is designed to help a photographer begin a photographic project or help complete an ongoing photographic project.