Google’s Creator Labs & Aperture have announced the recipients of the second season of The Creator Labs Photo Fund — an initiative providing financial support to encourage artists at formative moments in their careers. Started in 2021, this second season of the Creator Labs Photo Fund is supporting a greater selection of artists, with grants provided to 30 artists for new work created in the past three years. This year, the fund will provide one-time $6,000 grants to the following 30 artists working in photography and lens-based practices: Arlene Mejorado, Ashley McLean, Ashley Markle, Avijit Halder, Clara Mokri, Colton Rothwell, Daniel Diasgranados, Devin Blaskovich, Golden, Ira Lupu, Isaiah Winters, Jenica Heintzelman, Jennifer Teresa Villanueva, Jeremy Grier, Keisha Scarville, Kierra Branker, Lisa Elmaleh, Luis Corzo, Natalie Keyssar, Oji Haynes, Ramie Ahmed,Ramona Jingru Wang, Ryan Krueger, Ryan Frigillana, Shala Miller, Tam Stockton, Wesaam Al-Badry, Xi Li, Yael Malka and Zhidong Zhang.
The fund, made possible by Google Devices and Services in partnership with Aperture, was open to any photographer or lens-based artist living in the United States. All entrants submitted 8 to 10 images from one body of work, showing a commitment to making a cohesive and compelling series or project and entrants were evaluated based on the strength and originality of their vision. Supporting creators is a foundational part of Google’s commitment as a company and this fund is an opportunity to widen the existing Creator Labs mission to support artists on the rise.
Aperture serves as an essential platform for artists, fostering critical dialogue within the photographic community. “Partnering with Google on the second edition of the Creator Labs Photo Fund embodies Aperture’s longstanding mission to support new voices in photography,” states Brendan Embser, Senior Editor, Aperture. “The 30 selected artists bring us projects with a dynamic and wide range of approaches, including commentaries on photography’s documentary and archival potential, and intimate explorations of identity and community. Aperture’s editorial team recognizes critical rigor animating the work by each of these artists, reaffirming the role that images play in creating a dialogue with the past and envisioning new possibilities for the future.”
About Creator Labs Photo Fund
Creator Labs Photo Fund was formed out of a desire to extend the mission & message of Creator Labs to the wider creative community. It is increasingly important and vital to provide support to the creative community — to continue their practice, and have their narratives reverberate, for years to come.
