Azeri photograper among the winners of Getty Images 2006 Grants

Selected from a field of 120 entries from 29 countries, the winners are Sarah Caron from France, Rena Effendi from Azerbaijan and Simon Roberts from England. In addition to $20,000 in funding, each Grant recipient will receive collaborative editorial support from Getty Images photo editors as they execute their projects. The grants recipients will also be offered a one-year exclusive rights deal with Getty Images where their work could be marketed through www.gettyimages.com worldwide, if they choose. The photographers will always retain copyright of their imagery.

Simon Roberts proposes to use his grant to focus on the war in Chechnya from the perspective of the Russian soldiers and their families. Simon commented: "I am grateful to receive this award, especially at a time when it's becoming increasingly difficult to fund photo essays which tackle this kind of subject matter. The war in Chechnya is currently Europe's longest running conflict and is still one of the most under-reported. I hope that my project will highlight the injustices of the Chechen conflict and the wider issue of a Russian army in crisis."

Rena Effendi plans to use her grant to document lives along the Baku- Tbilisi-Ceyhan oil pipeline -- a multi-million dollar project talked about as part of The New Great Game -- in reference to the political struggle to control the large reserves of oil and gas in the Caucasus. Effendi will focus on the struggle between geo-political interests and the people trapped in between. Rena adds: "So far, the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan story has had no photographic exposure except in commercial campaigns. The grant will give me the freedom to portray life as it is lived, with no public relations agenda."

Sarah Caron will be using her grant to highlight the martyrdom culture that drives the Palestinian Al-Aqsa Martyr Brigades and the way they portray themselves by the image of death. Caron will focus on both the daily life and fight of the 'martyr' and of the local artists who prepare their images for display following their deaths.

The 120 anonymous project proposals and portfolios were independently reviewed by three judges who then met in New York on 3 August 2006, to collaborate and select the three winners. The leading photojournalists and industry experts who judged the applications were Eliane Laffont, Editorial Director, Hachette Filipacchi Media; Tony Chambers, Creative Director, Wallpaper* Magazine; and Susan A. Smith, Deputy Director of Photography at National Geographic.

Susan A. Smith commented: "The level of work across the board was very high. We could have awarded grants to a number of talented photographers. In the end, though, we went for three distinct genres: the gritty, gutsy, rough immediacy of war photography; classic black-and-white documentary work; and stylized but intimate environmental portraits."

Aidan Sullivan, vice president, photographer and filmmaker relations, Getty Images said: "Photojournalism brings to life the most pressing and engaging global issues, whether political, social or environmental and Getty Images is committed to fostering the next generation of photojournalistic talent. The Getty Images Grants for Editorial Photography program facilitates projects that have a personal significance for the winning photojournalists and enables high caliber reportage imagery to be produced."

Getty Images is the world's leading creator and distributor of visual content and the first place creative professionals turn to discover, purchase and manage imagery. The company's award-winning photographers and imagery help customers create inspiring work which appears every day in the world's most influential newspapers, magazines, advertising campaigns, films, television programs, books and Web sites. Headquartered in Seattle, WA and serving customers in more than 100 countries, Getty Images believes in the power of imagery to drive positive change, educate, inform, and entertain.

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