eidolon is delighted to announce that the eidolon Grant 2025, eidolon’s international grant programme for projects which explore, promote and conserve vernacular photography is open.

The deadline for submission is August 31, and applications can be made under two categories, with a total of 25.000 EUR to be distributed.

The eidolon Grant is an international programme that is presented annually to artists, academics, professionals, researchers, collectors and vernacular photography enthusiasts whose past work and proposed project is centred around the image heritage of everyday photography.

The eidolon Grant aims to identify phenomena, collections, histories, practices, and trends within vernacular photography with the aim of offering new interpretations and analyses. Thematising both photographic heritages and contemporary photographic practices is eidolon’s mission and we invite you to join us in this important exploration.

Each chosen project will contribute to the enrichment of our institution's program in the coming year.

Our goal is to equally represent the vast range of past everyday photographic practices while also raising awareness of the significance of contemporary image culture. We aim to highlight how historical photographic traditions continue to shape society and visual communication today, while exploring the impact of emerging digital and social media practices on current visual trends and societal narratives.

This year, the two categories of the eidolon Grant reflect this commitment.

Category 1 — Contemporary everyday photographic cultures

In Category 1, the eidolon Grant invites projects that critically engage with the evolving phenomena of digital images, social media platforms, networked image cultures, and their social, political, historical, and aesthetic implications in the 21st century.

We seek thoughtful, in-depth projects that examine the impact of these mediums on contemporary visual communication, identity, and social interaction. Proposals should offer innovative and fresh perspectives or explore underrepresented aspects of these topics, providing nuanced insights into how digital image practices shape and are shaped by recent cultural and technological shifts.

Category 2 — Everyday photographs of the past

In Category 2, the eidolon Grant seeks projects that engage with the significance of 19th and 20th-century everyday photography, through both private and public archives, whether hidden or well-known, and explore collective histories and memories.

We want to give previously unhighlighted photographs the opportunity to shine through various interpretive gestures. Analogue vernacular photography is being lost to our heritage because, as yet, we have no systemic means of their preservation. Eidolon represents an opportunity to interpret everyday images of the past at a moment when the question of what is significant about contemporary social imaging arises. We believe that the past is interpreted through the image practices of the present.

We invite proposals that critically examine the history of safekeeping these images, considering their evolution and relevance in both historical and contemporary contexts. Furthermore, projects focused on the development of the photographic apparatus and its impact on everyday culture are encouraged.