About the Grants

At Working Assumptions, we believe that visual storytelling can play a pivotal role in illuminating the complexities of family life today and fostering compassion for the experiences of others. As part of our mission, we support projects that employ photography and photo-based art to spur reflection and dialogue around caregiving, family, interdependent communities, and belonging.

We offer six Working Assumptions Project Grants each year:

  • $10,000 per grant

  • Eight-month grant period: October 1 to June 1

  • Unrestricted funding for complete creative freedom

Projects may range from photography series and books to public art projects, therapeutic programs, or long-form journalism.

What We Fund 

We support photography and photo-based art projects that explore the everyday give-and-take of family and caregiving. We believe visual storytelling can illuminate the complexities of family life today—fostering compassion and sparking reflection and dialogue around these themes. We welcome photography-focused proposals across artistic, therapeutic, educational, and research contexts.

We give preference to projects that

  • Are based on first-person narration and/or on long-term, intertwined relationships with the photographic subjects.

  • Build on earlier, related work by the applicant.

  • Have been initiated prior to the application deadline, to some degree.

  • Expand our understanding of what family, caregiving, and interdependent communities look like.

We are also drawn to work that actively visualizes the exchanges and acts of care and family life. We’re interested in photography that captures people in motion, in relationships, and in the midst of everyday rituals. While portraiture can be a powerful tool within a broader documentary project, we prioritize work that documents the dynamic, lived texture of family and caregiving over static, portrait-centered approaches.

Please Note: Projects must employ still photography as the central medium for communicating the themes of Working Assumptions. While we value the moving image as a storytelling tool, projects involving film or video are only eligible when the moving image accompanies or is integrated into a photo-based project. Projects that are solely documentary films are not eligible unless they focus thematically on photography of family or care.

How Do We Define Family?

While we recognize that the term "family" is complex and multifaceted, Working Assumptions is interested primarily in two dimensions of family:

  1. the family/care contexts each of us inherits, and their relationship to the formation of our self-image

  2. the sustained, interdependent relationships we enter into by choice or circumstance

These two aspects of family often remain in dialogue throughout our lives, as we embrace, reject, and alter elements of each along the way.

Though family can take many forms, for our purposes, the term refers to the complex web of obligations, responsibilities, rituals, and sentiments that bind together two or more people over time. For Working Assumptions to view a grouping as family, its members must engage in at least some of the following activities:

  • Having a biological or adoptive relationship

  • Demonstrating commitment and mutual obligation

  • Providing for members’ emotional and physical well-being

  • Caregiving

  • Spending time together

  • Sharing resources

  • Sharing memories and histories

  • Sharing rituals and values

Note that the actions listed above need not be simultaneous or continuous, as the give-and-take of family often takes place in unequal measure over long time horizons.

Who Should Apply

This opportunity is for individuals and/or collaborations (not organizations) across multiple disciplines with a focus on visual storytelling and family.

  • Residency: Applicants must be U.S. citizens (including those residing abroad) or U.S. tax residents authorized to work in the United States. They must also have a U.S. tax ID number or Social Security number, as well as a U.S. bank account.

  • Age: Applicants must be at least 18 years old.

  • Eligibility: Applicants cannot have been employees or grant recipients of Working Assumptions within the last two years.

How to Apply

All applicants must submit their application using the online grant portal Good Grants. Register your account in Good Grants here.


Application period: May 1 - June 1


Required information:

  • Personal details

  • Resume/CV

  • Examples of the current project

  • Related past work

  • Project description

  • Budget outline

Timeline

  • May 1, 2026: Application portal opens for submissions

  • June 1, 2026: Deadline to submit 

  • September 2026: Announcement of winners 

FAQs

  • There is no entry fee for the Working Assumptions Project Grants.

  • Successful proposals examine the give-and-take of family and are intended for public consumption. Applicants should demonstrate a unique perspective on visual storytelling around family, a deep commitment to their current project, and relevant experience or interest. We give preference to projects grounded in first-person narration and/or long-term, intertwined relationships with subjects. We strongly emphasize ethical practice.

  • We support a wide range of family-centered projects. Interdisciplinary approaches are welcome; however, photography must be the primary medium through which the project’s themes are expressed. 

  • Yes. In fact, we require the applicant to demonstrate that project work began prior to the application deadline.

  • No. Eligible work must occur during the grant period.

  • Yes. Recipients may use the funding as needed to support their project and related activities during the grant term.

  • Grant recipients may receive mentorship, networking opportunities, and support for project development or distribution.

  • Proposals are reviewed based on innovation, relevance to our mission, potential impact, and the applicant’s ability to execute the project. Contribution to broader conversations about family and care is also considered.

  • No.

  • No. Applicants must be US citizens or residents with a US tax ID and bank account.

  • Decisions are typically communicated no later than the end of September.

  • Funds are generally awarded by the end of October.

  • Applications are submitted through the Good Grants online portal.

  • Yes. Collaborative projects are welcome, but funds are disbursed to a single applicant.

  • Contact grants@workingassumptions.org.

Questions?

For any additional questions, please contact us at grants@workingassumptions.org.