Getty Images Creative Grants exceptional prize for Thomas Cristofolleti and Phibious Vietnam !

This is one of the most inportant awards on this field, maybe the most important one, and Phibious + photographer Thomas Cristofolleti are exceptional finalist !

Created in 2009, the Getty Images Creative Grants were introduced to help nonprofits use the power of imagery to promote positive change in the world and help communicate their stories more effectively.

This year, in addition to the two successful grant recipients (Linka Anne Odom and Klaus Thymann), two other outstanding grant applications were commended by the judges.

One of the exceptional grants was given to us Phibious Vietnam + Thomas Cristofoletti.

Madrid-based Photographer Thomas Cristofoletti and agency Phibious, based in Vietnam, were honored for their proposal to support the non-profit Federacao Camponesa KAFO in Guinea Bissau, which is devoted to the promotion of sustainable rural development for the local population. They proposed a selection of portraits taken of famous radio announcers whose testimony would help the rural population think and act in defense of their natural resources and would be featured on billboards, commercials and brochures. The campaign would help promote civil awareness of the environmental and social impact of phosphate mining on the region.
Project partners:
Photographer: Thomas Cristofoletti
Agency: Phibious
Nonprofit: Federacao Camponesa KAFO

Second exceptional grant:

Photographer Heiko Hellwig and agency Echolot from Germany were honored for their proposal to support The Surfrider Foundation, whose mission is the protection and enjoyment of oceans, waves and beaches through a powerful activist network. They proposed a unique campaign to place large-scale images and banners on public beaches.

The two big winners this year:

Pathwayssees photographer Linka Anne Odom and agency Good Pilot collaborate with D-Foundation to pursue a project which aims to recruit volunteers to increase effectiveness of medical care provided to vulnerable people in India.  Through their visual communication, they aim to inspire doctors to travel to India and donate their skills to the project, as well as raise awareness around D-Foundation itself by creating pop-up exhibitions highlighting the charity’s work in hospitals around Germany.

·         Project Pressure, by photographer Klaus Thymann and agency Mother London will visually highlight global glacial history, before the demise of this natural wonder.  The grant will enable Thymann to travel to Nepal, where he will document the field work of the Project Pressure team and the impact of glacial retreat on the local population. As well as imagery and video, Mother London will also utilize social media platforms and narrated slideshows to record his work.

For more information about the Getty Images Creative Grants programme, please visit www.gettyimages.com.au/grants which features the winners and finalists.