Ocean Storytelling Photography Grants

As humans we are hard wired to respond to stories. Everything around us from our politics to our religions to our economic systems, even how we see ourselves and others is a story. It is our most fundamental way of communicating. Stories spark the imagination and nurture ideas. They are, without doubt, our most powerful form of communicating and connecting, both with each other and the world around us.

At the Save Our Seas Foundation, we have a strong history of supporting marine conservation and education projects. We believe however that to truly transform knowledge into a tool to create effective, meaningful change, we need stories. People change through emotion, and must communicate through engaging stories. An inspiring or compelling story can spur positive action in ways that no presentation of facts can.

We are delighted to introduce a new category to our emerging Ocean Storyteller Grant: writing. The Ocean Storytelling Grants are led by our own Director of Storytelling and National Geographic photographer Thomas Peschak, and we are honoured that this new writing category will be in collaboration with bestselling author and marine biologist Dr Helen Scales and conservation journalist and wildlife filmmaker Swati Thiyagrajan.

This new category will build on the legacy of our previous photography grants, and is dedicated to finding and supporting a new and diverse generation of conservation storytellers. We are specifically looking for writers who can tell conservation stories about our oceans, anything from the animals themselves, to fisheries, to the communities whose lives are intertwined with marine life. Successful grantees will receive a paid assignment to cover a conservation story linked to one of SOSF’s projects under direct mentorship from the Storytelling Grant team.

We are particularly seeking to support early career and emerging storytellers and aim to encourage new voices with new perspectives and writing approaches. As such, while applicants must already be committed to writing, they should have no more than five years of professional experience in any writing related discipline. As with our photography grants, we especially encourage women and applicants from underrepresented communities to apply for this opportunity. Applications will be accepted both directly via open call and through nomination.

We hope to encourage applicants from all backgrounds the world over, in our search for exciting new voices and distinct perspectives in the field of conservation storytelling.