World Press Photo's Joop Swart Masterclass returns in 2024

After a three-year hiatus, the Joop Swart Masterclass will return in 2024 in a renewed format.

The Joop Swart Masterclass is World Press Photo’s best-known and most esteemed educational program. Launched in 1994, the masterclass has contributed to the development of generations of visual storytellers for almost three decades. Alumni of the Joop Swart Masterclass include Adam Ferguson, Alejandro Cegarra, Alessandra Sanguinetti, Anastasia Taylor-Lind, Fabiola Ferrero, Hicham Gardaf, Irina Werning, Ivor Prickett, Jodi Bieber, Jonas Bendiksen, Lorena Ros, Maika Elan, Mads Nissen, Mikhael Subotzky, Newsha Tavakolian, Philip Montgomery, Simona Ghizzoni, Tasneem Asultan, and Yto Barrada, among many other talented photographers. 

The 2024 Joop Swart Masterclass is made possible thanks to funding from the Porticus Foundation.

The Joop Swart Masterclass will come back in a renewed format. While holding on to the core objective to develop and guide photographers with 5-10 years experience in their practice, it will place special emphasis on building skills for long and sustainable careers in photojournalism, documentary photography and beyond.

It will welcome photographers from all regions of the world, with a special focus on the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region in 2024. From the 12 participants that will be selected, six will come from the MENA region. A participant from each global region will be selected to complete the participant selection.

From mid-June to mid-October, the mentorship program will take place online. Participants will work on their projects, receive feedback from their mentors and participate in online thematic presentations. From 26 October to 1 November, the group will come together in Amsterdam, the Netherlands for an intensive week of workshops, talks, and presentations.

Participants will work towards a pitch to an audience of photo editors, curators, publishers, photography institutions, and other relevant audiences. Every participant can decide what the best output is for their story, whether it is a photo story, a dummy photo book, a pitch for a publication, or an exhibition concept. They will identify their own needs and World Press Photo will try to support them by connecting them to the industry.

Finally, the participants will share their projects, training insights and experience in presentations in their region after the masterclass.

The program’s selection process is based solely on nominations from the international panel of nominators. Nominations for the 2024 Joop Swart Masterclass are now open. Find out more about the selection process and see the panel of international nominators.