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WORKSHOP
© Donald Weber
Grant Writing Workshop
Donald Weber, Hamburg
16. October 2012 or
17. October 2012

INTRO:
Photography projects require money. Many photographers produce work at their own financial cost. There are,
however, plenty of funding sources available from different organizations. These organizations are ready to support
image makers providing funding for research, creation, production, travel and living expenses.
There is a definitive technique to grant writing, learn this and strengthen your chances of reaching the top of the
pile.
/ INTERVIEW WITH DONALD WEBER:
“When I first started applying for alternate forms of funding, I wanted to beef up my CV, so I was looking for awards
that offered a wide range of benefits – a winner’s exhibition or a book or catalogue, perhaps a little cash, or just
the title of “first prize” – all very important when you’re applying for the larger grants or to Government-funded arts
councils. Crafting a CV is vital. You need to give your work validation and credibility.
In the beginning it took a long time to apply for each grant or award but, now that I’ve figured out the methods and
my work has been edited, it’s quicker. I always have about four ideas in my head and writing for grants is good a
way to get those ideas fleshed out in detail and on paper. I write a proposal for myself first, just to get it out, then
fine-tune it to the specific application – there may be certain themes or passages I re-use, but each application
is tailored. It’s not hard to do if you’ve got a strong, well-considered basic idea and, now that I’ve got a few years
behind me as a photographer, I’ve figured out what I want to say. I like to go by instinct, and try not to fuss too
much about it. You’re not going to win everything, so you just have to be true and honest. I’ve learned to enjoy it,
though early on it was a struggle.
Each project is different, but I like to stress my career arc: the things I’m interested in, perhaps why this work should
be done and be done only by me, and stressing a sense of urgency. I am a more literary photographer then factual,
so I try to combine my proposals with anecdotes and personal experiences, perhaps including people I’ve met on
my travels, passages from books I’ve read, or quotes from historical figures or people who live where I intend to
shoot. Rarely do I use third-person quotes, such as “The New York Times says...”, as I find it takes the personal out
of the proposal.
I think my Guggenheim Fellowship proposal was successful because it was straight and to the point, but was also
lyrical and had a sense that this was the only story I could tell, or wanted to tell. That personal touch made the pro-
ject feel even more valued. I sat down and wrote it one night in a fit of fury, something I am prone to do. Basically, it
was an email to a friend who is a writer, and he replied right away saying, “There’s your proposal.” That’s essentially
what I handed in, an email with cleaned-up spelling and grammar, but the immediacy, the rage, the knowledge
and the heart all came out. I couldn’t type fast enough to get everything out on the page. It’s probably one of my

proudest accomplishments and, since then, all my proposals have had the same feeling. It’s about knowing when
you are at the Eureka moment, and knowing when it’s good.
Winning grants can generate their own momentum – if you’re applying for an Arts Council grant, it helps if you can
show you have won other grants and awards, because they’re looking for a pattern of proven success. However,
I do know that I was not nominated for a large photography prize in Canada, worth a lot of money, because I had
“won enough”. Ouch! But for me, searching out grants and awards is the only option because I don’t want to have
to take a paid job or do assignments. It’s proven a successful route, and has allowed me to create and shape a
career in my own way. If it all goes under tomorrow, I won’t be sad. At least I had a few years of making it on my
own.“ www.bjp-online.com, Britisch Journal of Photography, 23.01.2011
/ PROgRAm:
1) The Proposal.
Don will examine some award winning proposals, including his Guggenheim Fellowship, Lange-Taylor and two
Canada Council grants. We will also look at other award-winning proposals, including Robert Frank, Garry Wino-
grand, and other contemporary artists. We will look at why he wrote what he did and why it was successful. We
will talk about the overall structure of writing a proposal, breaking it down into simple steps.
2) The Portfolio.
After the proposal, an integral part of a successful grant is the portfolio and the editing of the photographs you
choose. We examine what to look for and how to make the portfolio support your proposal.
3) The CV.
Many people underestimate the power of a strong CV and its impact on a successful grant. We will discuss what
makes a strong CV and how to turn your ordinary CV into extraordinary.
4) The Grants. Don will show various websites and calendars that list grants and their deadlines. We will also
look at websites that help you in the preparation and finding of grants that apply to what you want to do.
/ INSTRUCTOR:
Donald Weber (*1965) , prior to photography he was originally trained as an architect and worked with urban
theorist Rem Koolhaas’ Office for Metropolitan Architecture (OMA) in Rotterdam, The Netherlands. He freelanced
for the international press in places as diverse as Africa, Eastern Europe, Russia and South America before taking
aim at the bigger picture: the growth of insoluble World Power. He has since devoted himself to the study of how
Power deploys an all-encompassing theater for its subjects; what he records is its secret collaboration with both
masters and victims.

Recent major projects include The Underclass and Its Bosses: Crime & Punishment in Ukraine, which won the
Lange-Taylor Documentary Prize; Bastard Eden, Our Chernobyl, which won the photolucida Book Award; The
Drunken Bride, Russia Unveiled, completed with a Guggenheim Fellowship; Opera of Power, which won a Canada
Council Fellowship; and his latest book, Interrogations, about post-Soviet authority in Ukraine and Russia, re-
leased by Schilt Publishers, 2012.
His work has appeared in numerous international publications including Amica, Der Speigel, The Guardian,
Newsweek, New York Times, New York Times Magazine, Rolling Stone, Stern, Time and The Walrus. He has
worked with the NGO’s Medecins sans Frontieres, the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum and War
Child. Weber’s photography projects have been exhibited at festivals and galleries worldwide including the United
Nations, Museum of the Army at Les Invalides in Paris, the Portland Museum of Art and the Alice Austen House
Museum in New York. Other major awards include the Duke and Duchess of York Photography Prize, two World
Press Photo awards, PDN’s 30 and was named an Emerging Photo Pioneer by American Photo.
Currently Don is working on two separate projects: The Drowned City and ‘War is good*’ (photographed in nort-
hern Iraq, courtesy of the Magnum Emergency Fund). He is a member of the acclaimed VII Photo Agency.
/ THE WORKSHOP – what attendees have said:
“This workshop is a good investment, it paid for itself when I received my first grant a couple months later.”
Brett Gundlock, photographer and member of Boreal Collective
“Thanks for the very inspiring workshop! I can really see now what went wrong so far, and what to do differently
from now on. I’m pretty sure there will be a grant soon!”
David de Jong, Photographer, Amsterdam
“If you ever take a workshop in how to get more and better grants, Donald’s is the one. He is that rare photographer
who has managed to live and pursue projects for many years primarily on grants.”
Bill Crandall, Photographer, Washington, DC
Former student Uwe Martin has won three separate grants totaling 16,000 Euro ($22,000) since taking the Grant
Writing Workshop in Berlin. Jared Soares received a Puffin Foundation Grant after completing the workshop in
Washington, DC. Aaron Vincent Elkaim wins a $20,000 grant after taking the workshop in Toronto.
Brent Gundlock wins $5,000 from the Ontario Arts Council. Peter Di Campo has won many awards and received
two Pultizer Center grants totaling over $25,000 after completing the workshop.
Several other students have also received awards, prizes, been shortlisted and furthered their careers after taking
the workshop, helping them preparing their proposals, edit their proposals and craft a better CV.

ORgANIZER: laif
Agentur für Photos und Reportagen GmbH
Merowingerstraße 5-7
50677 Köln
Fon: 0221/27226-0
Fax: 0221/27226-226
www.laif.de
/INSTRUCTOR: Donald Weber
/DATE: 16 October and 17 October 2012/lasting one day
/REgISTRATION: See registration form. Maximum number of participants: 15.
Closing date for registration is 07 October 2012
/PRICE: 16 October 2012
190 euros + 19% VAT
17 October 2012
190 euros + 19% VAT
Payment by authorized direct debit only.
Full board and lodging excluded.
/LOCATION: Hamburg (exact location still to be announced)
/ACCOmODATION: We can recommend cheap hotels and hostels.
/CATERINg: We will provide drinks like coffee, tea and mineral water and from 6 pm also
beer or wine. In the morning, we offer sandwiches, during the day, fresh
fruits and cookies.
/CONTACT: Peter Bitzer, workshop@laif.de

laif Agentur für Photos und Reportagen GmbH
Merowingerstraße 5-7
50677 Köln
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GRANT WRITING WORKSHOP
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WHO WE ARE
laif Agentur für Photos und Reportagen, based in Cologne
and founded more than 30 years ago as photographer agen-
cy, is one of the leading photo agencies for photojournalism,
magazine and travel photography and offers high-quality
photography services. Currently, laif represents about 400
photographers as well as 41 international partner agencies
and publishing syndications such as the New York Times or
the titles of the Société du Figaro.
We thematically focus on photojournalism, magazine and
travel photography as well as on corporate photography.
We are also continually expanding the range of material we
have in the field of creative photography.
Professional users of photographs benefit from our extensive
service of licensing of individual photos and complete fea-
tures and our picture editing support, e.g. picture research,
clarifying image rights or coordination and realization of
photo shoots thanks to our excellent national and internati-
onal network. To our customers we offer the ideal, active re-
marketing of their photographs and features at national and
international level. In addition, we arrange and coordinate
photo assignments and we support and counsel regarding
contracts, projects, marketing tasks and much more.
Regular clients of laif include editors of daily papers and
weekly and monthly magazines, publishers of books and ca-
lendars, companies, corporate and advertising agencies as
well as non-governmental organizations and government
organizations.
“We would like to support photographers in
deepening their skills to understand and to
apply photography as a cultural medium. We
want to create a school of (even better) sight”
Peter Bitzer, Manager and Initiator of the laif
„Master-Workshops“