DEADLINE: ZEKE Awards for Systemic Change and Documentary Photography

In November 2021, the Social Documentary Network (SDN) partnered with the Foundation for Systemic Change to create the ZEKE Award for Systemic Change. This award recognizes the work of documentary photographers from a global community of visual storytellers whose projects have the highest visual and storytelling components while exploring important global issues that affect us all—but also must document systemic solutions to the problems.

In 2025, the SDN will give two separate awards:

ZEKE Award for Systemic Change
SDN is proud to partner again with the Foundation for Systemic Change for the second year. SDN will award one photographer the ZEKE Award for Systemic Change and a $2,500 honoraria to recognize their outstanding visual stories documenting systemic changes leading to sustainable solutions to important issues affecting the world today. We are particularly interested in the threat to democracy and solutions to this global crisis as well as related issues including human rights, global health, climate change, migration and refugees, conflict, race and gender, reproductive rights, sustainable farming practices, and others. We look to photographers to educate us as to what issues are most pressing and the change that is being done.

ZEKE Award for Documentary Photography
SDN will award one photographer the ZEKE Award for Documentary Photography and a $2,500 honoraria to recognize their success in documentary visual storytelling about any subject matter with an emphasis on themes that affect the global community. Jurors will look at quality of the photographic images and accompanying text and how well the combination adds to our understanding of the issue.

Deadline: January 15, 2025

More information.