(Thanks for the reminder of this, Orville! Wouldn’t it be amazing if a black photographer won this? Most of us don’t yet have that first book, so we’re all eligible. It isn’t due until September, so start working on that application now!)

First Book Prize Overview

The Center for Documentary Studies (CDS) at Duke University and The Honickman Foundation (THF), based in Philadelphia, co-sponsor this prestigious biennial prize for American photographers. The only prize of its kind, the CDS / Honickman First Book Prize competition is open to American photographers of any age who have never published a book-length work and who use their cameras for creative exploration, whether it be of places, people, or communities; of the natural or social world; of beauty at large or the lack of it; of objective or subjective realities. The prize will honor work that is visually compelling, that bears witness, and that has integrity of purpose.

Guidelines

Eligibility
The prize is open to American citizens of any age who have yet to publish a book-length work (a publication which focuses on the photographer’s work, contains more than thirty of the photographer’s images, and is sold through conventional book distribution channels).

Deadline
All required materials must be submitted under one cover between June 15 and September 8, 2010. Materials must be postmarked no later than September 8, 2010.

Entry Fee
The entry fee is $50. Make checks or money orders payable to the Center for Documentary Studies / Honickman First Book Prize.

For more information go to: http://cds.aas.duke.edu/bp/index.html