As the PhMuseum 2025 Women Photographers Grant opens for new submissions, three previous recipients discuss how the award transformed their careers and offer valuable advice to prospective applicants. Marisol Mendez, Sara Abbaspour, and Sara De Brito Faustino shared detailed insights about their experiences with the grant, which is currently accepting applications with a deadline of October 2nd.
The photographers described different paths that led them to apply for the grant. Sara De Brito Faustino discovered the opportunity while working as a teaching assistant at her photography school, where she was responsible for curating newsletters about grants and contests for alumni. "I was drawn to this one because it was exclusively for women. I loved the idea and the possibility of shifting the balance toward gender equality in the art world through women-only contests," she explained.
Sara Abbaspour felt compelled to apply when she realized the grant could help her articulate her work's complexity. "The application became a way to articulate the work's intimacy while protecting its openness," she said. "Because the project emerged from a charged environment and is deeply personal, I was conscious of how easily it might be reduced to predetermined categories."
For Marisol Mendez, the decision came when she recognized that her project "Padre" needed to engage with audiences beyond her studio. "The tipping point was realizing that applying wasn't only about recognition but also about testing the project in dialogue with others," she noted. "That shift, seeing the application as part of the process rather than just an outcome, was what pushed me to finally sit down and do it."
Each photographer faced unique challenges while developing their work. Mendez struggled with the emotional weight of her personal project about her father. "It is such a personal project that at times I felt too close to it, almost blinded by the intimacy of the story," she shared. "Navigating that meant finding a balance between vulnerability and distance so that the work could resonate beyond myself."
De Brito Faustino encountered technical difficulties working with miniature objects for her interior scenes. "I started building maquettes of my interior as a way to regain power over difficult memories. But I found myself struggling with control, trying to move tiny objects. I used tweezers, and it was a really painful and emotionally draining process," she recalled. However, she noted that these struggles gave the series its distinctive charm, with scenes appearing in "unstable equilibrium" that perfectly translated the experience of living in a dysfunctional home.
Abbaspour faced both conceptual and practical challenges as an Iranian artist. "One of the main challenges was sustaining the project's complexity without letting it collapse into a single reading," she explained. "I wanted the photographs to hold multiple registers at once—drawing from the cadences of Persian poetry, the visual languages of global photography, and the sensibilities of independent cinema." She also confronted travel restrictions and bureaucratic delays that affected her production process.
The grant's impact extended far beyond financial support for all three recipients. Abbaspour emphasized that the recognition offered "a form of recognition and encouragement that affirmed the significance of the work." The support enabled her to refine a photobook draft that is now approaching the stage where she can share it with publishers.
Mendez found that the recognition provided validation that her work had value outside her immediate circle. "More than the money itself, it was the recognition that made me feel my work had value outside of my own circle, which gave me confidence to keep investing in it," she said. The grant also created visibility and momentum around her project, opening doors for conversations that helped refine her research.
For De Brito Faustino, receiving the grant as a recent graduate provided crucial confidence. "It was one of the first recognitions I received just after graduating and stepping into the art world. It meant so much more than the financial support; it meant that a jury of professionals considered my work interesting," she explained.
On a personal level, the recognition transformed how each photographer viewed their own work. Mendez described it as a turning point that shifted her perspective "from something intimate and almost fragile to something that could speak to others with strength and relevance." The grant helped quiet her fears about whether personal exploration could matter to others.
De Brito Faustino gained self-confidence in her work's potential to resonate with audiences. "It was then that I started to understand that this job is not only about satisfying my own vision of what I want to photograph but also about sharing it with an audience who is often far less critical than I am," she reflected.
Abbaspour viewed the recognition as both affirmation and encouragement to continue refining her project while staying true to its integrity. "Receiving this recognition has been deeply meaningful, both as affirmation and as encouragement to continue refining the project," she said.
The photographers also addressed significant barriers to equity in photography. De Brito Faustino observed the gender imbalance in the field, noting that while photography classes have more women students, the professional field still appears male-dominated. "Women become invisible, as happens in many other career paths, though I can see this slowly shifting in recent years," she said.
Mendez highlighted photography's inherent accessibility issues. "The medium is inherently elitist: equipment, production, and even entry into certain spaces often require financial privilege or academic validation," she explained. "This creates a landscape where many voices, particularly from the Global South, remain unheard."
Abbaspour provided historical context, explaining that while photography has been accessible to many marginalized communities since its invention, "art institutions were much slower to acknowledge this breadth." She noted that grants like PhMuseum's help shift the imbalance by creating platforms that recognize diverse perspectives while resisting narrow categorizations.
Regarding the application process, all three photographers emphasized its value as a moment of reflection. Abbaspour found sequencing particularly rewarding while writing proved more challenging but ultimately necessary. She stressed the importance of having a supportive community for critique and drawing inspiration from admired artists.
De Brito Faustino reflected more on photography as a medium, recognizing its sharing-based nature. "Platforms like PhMuseum, even if they don't offer the polished white-cube setting and perfect exhibition shots, have the power to reach a wider audience, be less elitist, and last over time," she observed.
Mendez emphasized the importance of honest self-reflection during the application process. "Preparing the submission for Padre pushed me to step back and reconsider not just the visual language of the project, but the emotional undercurrents that drive it," she said. "In the process, I rediscovered how intertwined my personal history is with broader cultural narratives."
For prospective applicants, the photographers offered practical advice. Abbaspour recommended having trusted friends who can provide supportive yet honest critique, while De Brito Faustino emphasized considering the sharing potential of the work. Mendez advised applicants to "be honest and intentional" and not try to mold their work to what they think the jury wants to see. "Focus on what makes your voice unique. Pay close attention to sequencing and text; they're tools to build a narrative arc that feels coherent and true to your message," she suggested.
All three photographers have ambitious plans for their projects moving forward. De Brito Faustino expanded her body of work from 22 to 65 images and plans to launch her first monographic book during Paris Photo's opening week in November. Mendez is developing "Padre" into a photobook, which she believes will allow the story to "breathe in a slower, more intimate rhythm." Abbaspour is working on a potential photobook titled "Floating Ocean" while planning new bodies of work based on her experiences with this project.
The PhMuseum 2025 Women Photographers Grant aims to empower the work and careers of female and non-binary professionals of all ages from all countries working in diverse areas of photography. The grant offers $10,000 in cash, projections at Photo Vogue Festival, and additional opportunities. Applications are currently being accepted through the PhMuseum website, with a final deadline of October 2nd.
