The climate crisis is one of the greatest challenges the world is currently facing. At NOOR, we strongly believe that through the power of visual journalism, impactful storytelling can inspire climate action. Are you a visual storyteller passionate about tackling issues surrounding the climate crisis and looking for a way to use your camera to make a difference?

The NOOR Visualising Climate Crisis: Advanced Mentoring Programme is an 8-month advanced visual storytelling training course dedicated to photographers and visual journalists from Vietnam, Cambodia, Thailand and Laos. The programme, which is taught in English, is a combination of two physical workshops in Hanoi, Vietnam and a 5-month online mentorship program to develop individual projects on the Climate Crisis in the region. The new work will be presented as a collective outdoor exhibition in Hanoi in September 2023.

The programme will be mentored by award-winning photojournalists Kadir van Lohuizen (Netherlands) and Linh Pham (Vietnam), reputed visual storytellers with extensive experience documenting the climate crisis. Through their guidance, we aim to provide you with the unique opportunity to acquire knowledge in how to research, investigate, produce, edit, curate and present powerful and impactful visual stories focused on the climate crisis. You will gain valuable insight into how to approach your subject, how to research, source and use data from verified sources. 

We will touch on the business side of the profession and you will learn how to pitch your stories to diverse platforms such as publications, exhibitions and NGO’s. We will also approach the subject from a cutting edge multidisciplinary perspective through the usage of photography, video, sound, text and drone cameras.

 In addition, you will have the chance to network with other like-minded visual storytellers and become part of NOOR’s international professional network. You will be working for several months as part of a diverse, international group of twelve to fifteen peers from countries across borders in a unique opportunity to build a supportive community of professionals who can mutually support each other’s works, boost learning processes and help reach wider audiences together.  

The project that you will develop during this educational programme will reach local communities in Vietnam and across borders through the outdoor exhibition which we will curate together. It will also gain a global audience through NOOR’s media platforms and become part of the NOOR Archive.

About the Workshop

The educational programme (and application) are free
Application deadline is March 8, 2023 23:59 PM CET
The educational programme takes place in Hanoi, Vietnam between 17th-21st of April and late September 2023 (date to be decided)
Open to photographers of all ages (18+) and career stages who are nationals of Thailand, Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia.
10 to 15 participants will be selected by an international jury comprised of Kadir van Lohuizen, Linh Pham and Jessica Lim.
The workshop is taught in English

What will the selected participants receive

Participation in a tuition-free educational programme 
Travel costs from Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia and Thailand to Hanoi for the two physical workshops reimbursed; 
Accommodation in Hanoi for the two physical workshops reimbursed; 
Breakfast and lunch on the days of the two physical workshops in Hanoi reimbursed;
A production fee will be granted to the participants based on the merit of the work in progress (further details will be shared at a later stage)

About the organization

We are a global, multilingual collective of highly accomplished journalists, authors, photographers, artists and filmmakers documenting, investigating and witnessing our world. We approach our work with integrity, passion, and respect. We believe stories have an impact and inspire action. We believe in the power of still and moving images.

NOOR, which takes its name from the Arabic word for light, launched in 2007 as a platform for its members to take financial control over their work and leverage the power of a group in a changing media landscape. Since then we have become industry leaders, producing images for large media companies and small startups, institutional clients and non-profits.  

We also teach, host workshops and public programs around photography, media literacy and representation. And while the content of our work is broad, it's unified in our desire to connect the dots around critical issues such as the climate crisis, over consumption, forced migration, the rise of authoritarianism, the injustices of patriarchy and the power of art and music to keep us human.

How to Enter

Applicants are required to be fluent in English to be able to communicate and discuss his/her/their project as the workshop will take place in English.  

All submission materials need to be in English. Applications in other languages will not be considered.

 All workshops are tuition-free for the participants, and open for all emerging visual storytellers from/living in the following countries: Vietnam, Thailand, Cambodia and Laos.

Judging Criteria

Applicants are encouraged to include this work and indicate what they want to explore in relation to the work in their application portfolio and motivation statement. Your portfolio should reflect stories that you are currently working on as a personal project and want to push further with the workshop. We’re looking for powerful stories. Applicants should be ready and willing to push their project forward.

Partners

This educational programme by the NOOR Foundation is made possible by the Embassy of the Kingdom of The Netherlands in Vietnam. Matca will be our communication and production partner in Hanoi, while ASEF will contribute to the programmes of events of the exhibition.