The deadline for submissions for the research grants is midnight ET, Monday, 23 March 2026.
10×10 Photobooks is pleased to announce a new grant cycle and call for applications as part of its annual photobook research grants program to encourage and support scholarship on under-explored topics in photobook history.
For this cycle, 10×10 is looking for submissions related to 10×10 Photobooks’ forthcoming publication on the history of photobooks from Africa and its diaspora. We invite proposals for photobook research on Black identity, Africa and the African diaspora. The concept of the photobook for your study can be interpreted in the broadest sense possible: classic bound books, portfolios, personal albums, unpublished books, zines, digital media, scrapbooks, posters, or other ephemera. The evaluation of proposals will consider the importance of the proposed topic, how significant and/or unknown is the subject, and the strength of the proposed approach.
The Grant
10×10 Photobooks will award three grants for this 5th cycle for 2026-2027 cycle in the amount of $2,500 each, which will be paid in two increments during the course of the project.
Grantee Expectations
Grantees are expected to present the result of their research in a 15 to 20-minute Zoom presentation along with an approximate 1500 word printed essay, including illustrations and photographs. Final research needs to be in English and will be due within a year of the grant being awarded.
10×10 will assist where able and desired with in-progress review, identifying information, making introductions, etc.
Please note that this grant is for research purposes and not for funding of the making of a photobook.
Application process
- Applicants must complete the grant form in English. The application includes a description of the project (less than 1000 words) and a brief bio and must be submitted by midnight ET on 23 March 2026. If there are multiple applicants on the proposal, information on additional researchers may be included in the Notes field.
- There is no fee for applying.
- Grant awards will be announced in May 2026
Program Rules
Grantees retain all rights to their work and are free to submit or use the results of their research as they wish with other platforms and programs so long as they acknowledge that support for initial research was provided by 10×10. 10×10 has the right to share the results on their website and platforms.
Applicants may submit multiple proposals, and a single application may include multiple researchers (note that the grant amount is for the entire project, not per researcher).
The program is open to anyone (researchers, writers, editors, curators, etc.) regardless of organizational affiliation, academic status or discipline, or nationality.
Applicants should not have a pre-existing grant for the specific work being proposed. Priority is given to new research (not currently funded). If there is existing support applicants should describe that support in the Notes field along with how the proposed research differs from that already funded.
For questions contact Marjorie Ornston at grants@10x10photobooks.org
The Jurors:
Amy Sall is a writer, researcher, collector-archivist, and cultural advisor based in New York, specializing in photography, cinema, and visual culture from Africa and its diasporas. She is the author of The African Gaze: Photography, Cinema and Power (Thames & Hudson, 2024), a comprehensive study of postcolonial and contemporary image-making in Africa. Sall is the founding editor of SUNU: Journal of African Affairs, Critical Thought + Aesthetics, and founder of The Sall Collection, a private assemblage of vernacular photography, printed matter, and ephemera with a pan-African focus. She previously taught at The New School’s Eugene Lang College of Liberal Arts. As a cultural advisor and strategist, she partners with initiatives that advance African and diasporic artistic production and preservation. Her postdisciplinary practice fosters ethical, critical, and accessible engagement with African arts, memory work, and culture.
Diane Frankel has twenty-five years of experience in the non-profit arena, serving as the director of graduate programs in museum studies at John F. Kennedy University and the founding director of the Bay Area Discovery Museum. As a presidential appointee of President Clinton, she headed the Institute of Museum and Library Services in Washington, DC. Frankel has served as a consultant to arts and cultural organizations, as an affiliate of Management Consultants for the Arts and as the Executive Director of the Artists’ Legacy Foundation. Ms. Frankel was president of Arttable (2003-2005) and served as chair of the San Francisco Art Institute Board of Trustees (2010- 2013) and on the Alliance of Artists Communities Board of Trustees. Frankel is a member of the board of the Museum of the African Diaspora and was a member of the Tate African Art Council and the National Museum of African Art of the Smithsonian. She is the chair of the George Rickey Foundation and a member of the Jay DeFeo Foundation.
Mariama Attah is a curator, writer and lecturer with a particular interest in overlooked visual histories, and understanding how photography and visual culture can be used to amplify underrepresented voices and close the gap between art and audiences. Attah is currently Exhibitions Lead at National Museums Liverpool. Previous roles include Director of Metal Culture Liverpool, Associate Curator for Art Collection Deutsche Börse, Curator at National Portrait Gallery, Head of Exhibitions at Open Eye Gallery, Liverpool, Editor of Foam Magazine, Curator at Photoworks, and Commissioning and Managing Editor of the yearly magazine Photoworks Annual.
Marjorie Ornston, Grants Director, coordinates the Research Grants in Photobook History program with assistance from 10×10 work-scholars. David Solo is our Grants Director Emeritus.
10×10’s Research Grants for Cycle 5 (2026-2027) are generously underwritten by Frédérique Destribats, Richard Sun and the Grace Jones Richardson Family Trust.