CatchLight 2026 Global Fellowship Call for Submissions. Open November 15-December 15, 2025
The visual media organization CatchLight will be opening submissions for the 2026 CatchLight Global Fellowship, beginning November 15 through December 15, 2025. Each year, the Fellowship awards $30,000 grants to three innovative visual storytellers whose work is a tool for information, connection and transformation in their communities.
The Fellowship supports innovative visual storytellers who seek to cultivate meaningful audience engagement and amplify the impact of their work through inventive distribution strategies. Acting as an incubator, the program awards $30,000 grants, fosters professional development, and builds networks that empower creative leaders to influence the future of visual storytelling.
Applications are free and open to all nationalities from November 15 through December 15, 2025. More information on catchlight.io/global. The 2026 Fellows will be selected by an international jury and announced at the CatchLight Visual Storytelling Summit in May 2026.
“In a moment when division so often dominates the headlines, CatchLight stands firm in our belief in the unifying power of images. Through the CatchLight Global Fellowship, we are supporting visual storytellers around the world who are deeply connected to their communities. Photographers who are building bridges across lines of experience, geography, and perspective. Their work fosters dialogue, empathy, and a renewed sense of shared humanity.” Elodie Mailliet Storm, CEO, CatchLight.
La borsa di studio CatchLight Global Fellowship è a vita. I borsisti sono incoraggiati a condividere le proprie competenze anche oltre l’anno di corso e CatchLight auspica che i borsisti offrano e ricerchino un mentoring all’interno della comunità per tutta la loro carriera.
The 2025 CatchLight Global Fellows continue to redefine documentary storytelling by centering community voices. Cairo-based Rehab Eldalil has been engaging SWANA war survivors through photography and mixed media to highlight resilience and global solidarity; Uruguayan Federico Estol collaborates with La Paz shoeshiner communities, now training participants as storytellers to amplify visibility and break stigmas; and central California-based Adam/n Perez partners with farmworker communities to document labor, land, and climate challenges, sharing their stories through photography, video, and public installations. Since May 2025, each has expanded their work, gaining new platforms and community-driven initiatives that extend the impact of their original projects.
