Manuel Rivera-Ortiz Foundation Announces Inaugural Exhibition, Names 2013 Grant Jurors, Extends Entry Deadline to April 30

NEW YORK, March 27, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Following the launch of a new grant in documentary film, The Manuel Rivera-Ortiz Foundation for Documentary Photography & Film announced today their first photography exhibition to take place during the world's biggest festival — Les Rencontres d'Arles — at Galerie Huit in Arles, France, and later in the year at Ikono gallery in Brussels, Belgium. With these new opportunities, the foundation has extended the 2013 call for documentary photography entries deadline through April 30 and has named a world renowned jury for selection of this year's grant recipient.

On display in Arles during July, the exhibition, "A New Documentary," will showcase the work of previous grant recipients Mads Nissen (Denmark, 2011) and Gustavo Jononovich (Argentina, 2012) and will also feature the finalists of the 2013 photography grant call for entries.

"Our collaboration with these European galleries comes at a critical time when traditional media are reducing photography staffs and photo-print pages in favor of on-line content," says foundation President and Founder Manuel Rivera-Ortiz. "While documentary photography is seeing a worldwide resurgence, photojournalists are finding it harder to get paid for their work, leaving many humanitarian stories under-reported. Our foundation board decided that joining forces was essential."

The foundation requests entries in Documentary Photography (April 30, 2013 new deadline), and Documentary Short-Short Film (May 31, 2013 deadline). One submission will be selected in each category to each receive an award of US$5,000.

Judging for the 2013 Photography Grant will take place in Arles. Members of this year's jury include:

• Michael Benson – Director of the Prix Pictet
• Christian Caujolle – Founder and Director of Agency VU, and Founder and Arts Director of Photo Phnom Penh festival
• Lucien Clergue – Founder of Les Rencontres d'Arles, and President of the French Academie des Beaux-Arts
• W.M. Hunt – Collector, curator  and the author of "The Unseen Eye"

Details and Entry Guidelines for both awards can be found under "Programs" at www.mrofoundation.org. There are no entry fees.

About the Foundation
The Manuel Rivera-Ortiz Foundation for Documentary Photography & Film is a 501(c)(3) Not-for-Profit Organization committed to positive social discourse in underrepresented communities throughout the world by encouraging emerging and established photographers working in around the world to keep their lenses fixed on the plight of the poor and disenfranchised. Headquartered in New York, with a presence in Paris and Zurich, the foundation is a charitable trust serving the international photographic community through exhibitions, publishing, grants, and other curatorial projects.

Established in 2010, the foundation aims to encourage a new generation of photographers, armed with only a camera and a vision of a better world, to take to the streets every day and document humanity on the move. For additional information, please visit www.mrofoundation.org.

Media Contacts:

New York
Michael Palmieri
Phone: +1 917.720.5769
m.palmieri@mrofoundation.org

Paris
Amina Daoud
Phone: +33 142 219 010
a.daoud@mrofoundation.org