1st July 2026
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THIS WEEK ON A SMALL VOICE PODCAST…
British photographer Sam Faulkner on looking for adventure, coming back from Afghanistan with the six rolls of film that won him the Ian Parry Award, his global 'war on drugs' story, changes in the industry, the threat of AI, eroded trust in news brands, his decision to step back from photojournalism and his new iOS app., Print Swap.
Go listen wherever you get your podcasts.
Also…
Hot on the heels of the call for entries to the Ian Parry Photojournalism Grant 2026, their sister award, the Tom Stoddart Award for Excellence, is now also open for submissions until 30th September 2026.
This one offers established photographers working in long form documentary photography a photo book produced by GOST Books. As with many such awards these days, there is an entry fee, which is £50. Where does that money go? Here’s the answer from the website:
“The submission fee helps support the ongoing operation and sustainability of the Tom Stoddart Award for Excellence run by the Ian Parry Photojournalism Grant. This includes the administration of the open calls, website maintenance and the promotion of the grant and its recipients. As a small charitable organisation, the fee also contributes to ensuring that we can continue offering meaningful support to emerging photojournalists through funding, mentorship, and global exposure.”
It’s encouraging that the Ian Parry Grant are commited to offering meaningful support to emerging photojournalists, and I know from talking to Executive Director, Harriet Logan, for the podcast recently that they are fully earnest in that commitment. In Harriet’s personal case, often above and beyond the call of duty. So I’m not singling them out in any way, because these entry fees are totally the norm.
I just know that for many photographers who struggle financially, £50 is enough to make entering prohibitive, which means that those photographers don’t get a chance to compete on an even playing field. And when you add up the cost of entering numerous awards per year, forget it. So those who have the financial resources to enter five, ten or fifty competitions per year, have an immediate advantage. The game is rigged heavily in favour of those who can pay to play. Or, to put it another way, if you are broke, you will constantly be penalised for it.
Obviously, we each get to decide whether it’s worth a punt paying to enter an award. Last year’s inuagural edition had 184 entries, so those are roughly your odds. But getting a book published that would otherwise cost you tens of thousands of pounds (which in itself is a whole other issue) is at least a pretty good prize.
Also…
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