REINKE GRANT FOR VISUAL STORYTELLING at BOYD'S STATION- SUMMER 2023
THE REINKE GRANT FOR VISUAL STORYTELLING - HARRISON COUNTY, KY - SUMMER 2023
Applications are now being accepted for the 2023 Boyd's Station Reinke Grant for Visual Storytelling. If you are a college student looking for an amazing experience this coming summer, check out the Boyd's Station Project 306.36 visual documentary program.
The application deadline to apply is Monday, January 9, 2023.
Learn all the program details and complete the online application form to be considered for the 2023 Reinke Grant for Visual Storytelling here!
Past Project 306.36 student photographers:
- Arden Barnes, University of Kentucky, 2018
- Michael Swensen, Ohio University, 2018
- Stephanie Amador, Ball State University, 2019
- Michael Johnson, Ohio University, 2019
- Nathaniel Bailey, Kent State University, 2019
- Lily Thompson, Western Kentucky University 2021
- James Year, Ohio University, 2021
- Jesse Barber, Appalachian State University, 2022
- Annie Barker, Michigan State University, 2022
- Tanner Pearson, Ohio University, 2022
The online application will require you to provide one single URL to the specific work your application is based. Include up to 15 MAXIMUM examples of your creative works.
You will also be asked to provide a link to your resume in either PDF or WORD format and your personal website.
Candidates are reviewed and recommended by the Boyd's Station Project 306.36 selection committee. Finalists will be contacted and interviewed by Boyd’s Station before the announcement of the grant recipients in February 2023.
Applicants must be 21 years of age or older during the grant period. NOTE: Students 20 years of age are encouraged to apply as long as the student will be 21 during the grant period in 2023.
Candidates must be active college students working towards a college degree.
Highlighted by weekly critiques and commentary offered by renowned documentary photographers and journalists, the Reinke Grant for Visual Storytelling provides a unique one-of-a-kind opportunity for the next generation of storytellers to expand their skills and develop the tools to sustain a career in journalism and documentary photography.
The 2023 Reinke Grant for Visual Storytelling recipient is awarded a $3,000 grant to take part in Project 306.36 for three months during the summer of 2023 and is immediately immersed into Harrison County, Kentucky. Housing is provided at no cost to the student.
- In-depth critiques and commentary from photojournalism’s most talented photographers.
- An innovative alternative to the traditional media internship opportunity allows for an individual to explore and document while not being constrained by daily deadlines.
- Exposure of the photographer’s work will be widely promoted and seen by top editors and photographers in the visual documentary community.
- The photographer owns the copyright to the photographs taken during the time in Harrison County.
- The photographs taken during Project 306.36 become part of the larger historical archive documenting this single community and continuing for many years to come.
THE FAQ's
IS THERE A FEE TO APPLY?
There is NO fee to apply.
WHAT ARE THE REQUIREMENTS TO APPLY?
Candidates must be college juniors, seniors or graduate students. They must be 21 years of age or older during the time of the grant period - they can be 20 when they apply but must be 21 by the time the grant begins. Candidates must be enrolled in a journalism or communications program, or a related degree program. Previous newspaper journalism internships and/or experience as a journalist on a college newspaper are preferred, but not mandatory. Most importantly, candidates must be committed to a career in journalism.
All Reinke Grant for Visual Storytelling recipients will absolutely adhere to the standards and ethics outlined by the National Press Photographers Association.
WHAT ARE SOME KNOWLEDGE AND SKILL REQUIREMENTS?
Excellent written and verbal communication skills, acute attention to detail, and the ability to work independently is most important. Familiarity with digital photography and file types is a must. Experience with social media tools and social publishing is expected as well as knowledge of Photoshop, Photo Mechanic and Photoshelter.com will be a major plus.
WHAT KIND OF HOUSING AND TRANSPORTATION IS AVAILABLE?
The Reinke Grant for Visual Storytelling recipient will live in a house at Boyd’s Station FOR FREE. They will share the home with the Mary Withers Rural Writing fellow. Each fellow will have their own room and have access to a shared bathroom, kitchen and living room. The home is WiFi-enabled (cell service can occasionally be spotty). Transportation in and around Harrison County is the sole responsibility of the grant recipient. In such a rural community, there is no public transportation, so a car, valid driver’s license and insurance are required.
ARE GRANT RECIPIENTS PAID?
The grant recipient will receive an overall $3,000 grant paid equally over the three-month grant period to pay for food, and living expenses. They will also be reimbursed for the cost of fuel while reporting from Harrison County. The Reinke Grant for Visual Storytelling recipient receives free rent for the grant period and working space at the Boyd’s Station Gallery in downtown Cynthiana.
Grant recipients are responsible for bringing their own car to Boyd’s Station and their own computer to work on. They are also responsible for their own meals.
WHAT ABOUT COLLEGE CREDIT?
Boyd’s Station is happy to work with a grant recipient’s college or university to help them receive college credits for their work. We can prepare any summaries, descriptions, or other supporting documentation to try to fulfill the requirements of any school.
WHAT IS THE DEADLINE TO APPLY?
The application window for Summer 2023 is open and accepting applications now and the deadline to apply is Monday, January 9, 2023.
Finalists for the Reinke Grant for Visual Storytelling will be interviewed by Boyd’s Station Project 306.36 selection committee members and additional work from the finalists may be requested.
WHEN SHOULD THE GRANT RECIPIENT BE IN HARRISON COUNTY?
Project 306.36 will run for 12 consecutive weeks somewhere between May to August 2023. The exact timing of this grant is determined by the student photographer and program director to best fit the grant recipient’s schedule, but each student is expected to be in Kentucky throughout the 12 weeks determined as the grant period. Exceptions will be made on a case-by-case basis for family emergencies or other personal matters.
WHAT DOES EACH FELLOW NEED TO BRING WITH THEM?
If you are selected for the Reinke Grant for Visual Storytelling, you will need the following:
- A car, and valid driver’s license and insurance.
- A personal computer.
- Personal photography gear.
- Clothes and shoes that work on a farm. While photographers will spend a lot of time in downtown Cynthiana and can work indoors, it’s expected - and encouraged - that they spend as much time as possible immersing themselves in the community, which means a lot of time on farms and ranches, cow patties included. A good pair of hiking/work boots is highly recommended.
- Health insurance is recommended.
- Nikon Professional Service (NPS) has generously provided professional equipment on loan for use by each grant recipient in previous years participating in Project 306.36 and the photographers should expect to have access to professional Nikon cameras and lenses.
WHAT KIND OF HOURS WILL THE PHOTOGRAPHER BE WORKING?
This is not a traditional internship where a photographer is expected to clock in and out at set hours each day. The expectation is that the grant recipient is self-motivated, will put in a full 40 hours each week and accomplish goals. It’s up to each student to figure out if that means working 9-5 or crafting their own schedule. It will be the responsibility of the photographer to adhere to the guidelines for uploading and captioning images specified by Boyd's Station Project 306.36.
WHO WILL MANAGE WHAT THE GRANT RECIPIENT DOES?
The Boyd’s Station Project 306.36 program is directed by Jack Gruber, a staff photographer at USA TODAY. Jack Gruber will supervise the grant recipient’s program and work hand in hand with the photographer along with a group of Project 306.36 mentors during the duration of the program. Grant recipients should expect to communicate with the mentors through weekly video calls and frequent emails and visits to Harrison County.
Jack Gruber, the founder and director of Boyd’s Station, will be on-site frequently and runs the multiple programs operating out of Boyd’s Station. 2018 Reinke Grant recipient Michael Swensen and 2019 Mary Withers Rural Writing fellow Margaret Heltzel have joined the staff and are on the ground in Harrison County, Kentucky. They will help with day-to-day advice on how to live, report and document while in Harrison County, Kentucky.
WHAT WILL A GRANT RECIPIENT LEARN?
This project is geared towards documentary photography of the people and places of Harrison County, Kentucky and the work of the grant recipient will become part of the Project 306.36 archive.
The Boyd’s Station 306.36 Visual Documentary Project has a large community of successful documentary photographer supporters who are the best in the world and are committed to seeing the grant recipient strive and succeed. What might be the most unique thing about The Reinke Grant for Visual Storytelling is that while in Harrison County, the grant recipient will have numerous in-person and virtual critiques of their work with different Boyd’s Station Project 306.36 visual documentary project mentors. This opportunity will be a unique experience between the photographer and an accomplished professional to discuss work or seek answers to questions on how to successfully navigate documentary photography.
Grant recipients will be challenged to work daily documenting life in Harrison County as well as balancing time to pursue in-depth individual essays. To see a selection of successful past Reinke Grant recipient work, please check out this highlighted work.
This is an annual photo documentary archive project. Full and complete captioning of all photographs is mandatory. Students should only consider this program if able to work under weekly deadline considerations with a careful and exact eye for detail in providing full and complete captions for all of the work produced. You must be confident and willing to initiate conversations about your work, communicate with the project directors and seek out project mentors to take full advantage of the community of support built around this program.
The Reinke Grant for Visual Storytelling recipient is expected to be self-motivated and hardworking.
WHO OWNS THE COPYRIGHT TO THE WORK CREATED?
The PHOTOGRAPHER. One of the unique things about this grant opportunity is that any and all work created by the photographer will be owned, and the copyright retained, by that individual. The photographer has the right to market or sell any of the work for personal gain editorially or commercially as long as the work and any photograph or video images sold commercially have proper documentation and release from subjects.
The complete collection of photos, words, creative works, and images produced during the project period DO become part of the overall historical archive and collection of the Boyd's Station archive. The photographer must grant Boyd’s Station the right, in perpetuity, to use any of the work created during the grant period in promotion, exhibits and for educational purposes determined by Boyd’s Station without additional compensation. Boyd’s Station agrees not to sell or provide creative work or images for commercial gain without expressed written consent and agreement of the fellow.
QUESTIONS
Please contact Boyd’s Station executive director Jack Gruber at jack@boydsstation.com with any questions or comments regarding the application process or general information regarding The Reinke Grant for Visual Storytelling.