The Marilyn Stafford FotoReportage Award, supported by Nikon, is celebrating its 10th edition and is now open for submissions! Awarded to a woman photographer in memory of one of the 20th century’s seminal women photographers, Marilyn Stafford, the £4000 prize showcases positive solutions to global issues through documentary photography. The international competition is free to enter, and applicants can be working anywhere across the globe. Submissions close on 18 May 2026.
How to enter
Women from any stage of their careers can apply for the award, whether emerging, mid-career or established, but must have completed at least one documentary photo essay to demonstrate track record. Entrants must be over 18 and they may be any nationality and based anywhere in the world. It is free to submit an application for the award.
The successful work should, in part, showcase positive solutions to any issues it raises in order to contribute to constructive photojournalism, in line with the wishes of Marilyn Stafford and the aims of FotoDocument. The Award is reserved solely for documentary photographers working on projects intended to make the world a better place and which may be unreported or under-reported.
The prize goes towards the completion of a compelling and cohesive documentary photo essay, which addresses an important social, environmental, economic or cultural issue, whether local or global.
10 year celebrations
As well as the prize winner announced in June, there will be a special celebration of 10 years of the prize from 17-20 September at POST, Brighton & Hove’s new centre for photography.
This will include a special 2026 Winner exhibition & Artist Talk, exhibited highlights from the last ten years of Winners including a talk from Natalya Saprunova, 2022 Winner. There will also be an inaugural screening of the trailer of the Marilyn Stafford film currently being made by Ellie Emptage from Tara Films, plus workshops & a panel discussion about women in documentary photography facilitated by the international jurors of the award. Tickets and more information will be available soon at POST. To also mark this special year, Albumen Gallery will be exhibiting a display of works by Marilyn Stafford at Art Rotterdam from 27 – 29 March.
Stafford was the photographer who shot the now infamous photograph of Albert Einstein at his home in Princetown, New Jersey in the late 1940s. Her career spanned the 1950s and 60s’ fashion scenes of London and Paris; portraits of significant historical figures such as Sir Richard Attenborough, Edith Piaf, Carlo Levi, Le Corbusier; high profile documentary projects including a reportage on Indira Gandhi following the Bangladesh Liberation War, as well as extended photo essays on pre-civil war Lebanon and mid-20th century Parisian slums.
Further reading:
- One of these photographers is about to win £30,000 – who should it be?
- Toadally Awesome! The best wildlife photographs you’ll see today from British Wildlife Photography Awards
- 10 women photographers you should follow on Instagram today
Featured image: Children peer out of a broken window overlooking the courtyard at Cissie Gool House. Image: Jodi Windvogel, winner Marilyn Stafford FotoReportage Award 2025
