The International Environmental Photography Lab is a six month, online mentoring program presented in partnership between Native Agency, Grün Berlin, Neue Schule für Fotografie Berlin (New School for Photography) and Kigali Photo Center.

The lab is for new photographers (defined as coming to the craft within the last three years) based anywhere in the world. The program will begin mid-March and conclude in August. Participants must be fluent in English.

The projects developed during the mentorship will be featured in a travelling exhibition at the end of the year. The 51 selected participants will be grouped into three topics (water, climate change, and urban nature / planning) and attend seven online mentoring sessions with Laura Beltran Villamizar (Native Agency), Esther Horvath (iLCP, Alfred Wegener Institute) and Ben Chislett (Neue Schule für Fotografie Berlin). In addition, a series of lectures will be given by a group of international experts from the fields of photography and science.

There is a participant fee of 180 EURO. Those who cannot afford to pay the full fee upfront can choose to pay in two installments. Please state this in your letter of motivation.

There are also a limited number of merit based scholarships for the program. If you are experiencing financial hardship, please also include a 200 - 500 word statement of need with your application.Accepting submissions: February 5 to March 1, 2021

THE APPLICATION PERIOD HAS NOW CLOSED. We will announce participants soon. Participants will be notified via email and the names will be announced through our social media channels. All applicants will receive a response.

Native and Everyday Projects Mentorship Program (2018-2020):

As part of our mission to nurture and amplify the voices of emerging photographers from underrepresented communities, Native and The Everyday Projects launched their inaugural series of long-term educative mentorships by regional and international professionals in the field of documentary and editorial photography.

The Mentorship Program offered mentees a cost-free learning opportunity to develop skills that helped them foster a unique visual language and build their career with the ultimate goal of helping create an industry that more accurately reflects the diversity of the world and the people whose stories we document.

Over the course of the two-year program, each mentee produced a personal project on a shared theme, which for the inaugural series was “Territory.” Mentees received feedback on this project and others that they were shooting, and received additional instruction on business practices, promotion, and other topics to help them navigate the media industry.

Our mentors:

The Native and Everyday Projects mentors were award-winning professional photographers and editors from around the world. The team included industry experts working and shooting for publications and organizations such as National Geographic, The New York Times, the Washington Post, TIME, the Associated Press, and many others. They include recipients of World Press Photo awards, POYi and POYLatam awards, Days Japan International Photojournalism awards, the Getty Instagram grant, Magnum Foundation grants, Pulitzer Center grants, and numerous other awards, as well as members and co-founders of NOOR and VII.

Our 2018 - 2020 mentors were: 

Adriana Zehbrauskas, Alice Gabriner, Allison Shelley, Andrew Esiebo, Andrew Katz, Brent Lewis, Donald Weber, Edward Echwalu, James Estrin, Jennifer Samuel, John Stanmeyer, Michael Robinson Chavez, Nick Kirkpatrick, Olivier Laurent, Oscar B. Castillo, Peter DiCampo, Ricci Shryock, Shahidul Alam, Shaminder Dulai, Stephen Mayes, Tanya Habjouqa, and Walter Astrada. 
  

The inaugural class of The Native and Everyday Projects were emerging photographers from 20 countries in Africa, Asia, the Middle East, and Latin America.

Our 2018 - 2020 mentees were: 

Johis Alarcón (Ecuador)
Enayat Asadi (Iran)
Cynthia Santos Barrios (Puerto Rico)
Girma Berta (Ethiopia)
Amrita Chandradas (Singapore)
Marissa Chen (Singapore)
Barry Christianson (South Africa)
Daouda Corera (Mauritania)
Victor Zea Diaz (Peru)
Yagazie Emezi (Nigeria)
Thana Faroq (Yemen)
Fabiola Ferrero (Venezuela)
Néha Hirve (India)
Heba Khamis (Egypt)
Angela Ponce (Peru)
Miora Rajaonary (Madagascar)
Christina Rizk (Egypt)
Zied Ben Romdhane (Tunisia)
Tom Saater (Nigeria)
Manuel Seoane (Bolivia)
Ley Uwera (Democratic Republic of the Congo)
Biko Wesa (Kenya)