Closed: Win a photography assignment to Myanmar!

Applications have now closed and we have announced a winner.

Do you have what it takes to become a professional travel photographer?

You could be the emerging photographer we're looking for to capture Myanmar's Thingyan water festival, ancient temples and traditional tribes.

In partnership with:

Intrepid Kathmandu Lonely Planet

Packing your camera already? Watch the video below to find out how to apply.

One of the previous winners of the Travel Photography Scholarship

This opportunity is now closed.

View the applications!

Missed out on this travel scholarship? Sign up to hear about our next one.

What you could win

Free flights

Receive round-trip airfare from your closest international airport to Yangon, Myanmar.

Bespoke tour of Myanmar

Journey through Myanmar with a custom 10-day photography tour designed by Intrepid Travel.

Photography mentorship

Improve your skills with one-on-one mentorship from professional travel photographer Richard I’Anson.

Adventure gear

Get fully outfitted for your trip with awesome outdoor apparel from Kathmandu.

Photography guide

Receive a copy of Lonely Planet’s Guide to Travel Photography by Richard I’Anson. Shortlisted applicants will take one home too!

Travel insurance

Travel with confidence knowing that you are covered by World Nomads on your photographic adventure.

How do I apply?

  1. Shoot a 5 image max photo story

    Your brief is to tell a story from a place that you have visited through images (with accompanying captions to help contextualize each shot). A ‘place’ can literally be anywhere - from your backyard to somewhere you visited on your travels.

  2. Write a winning essay

    Tell us in 1500 characters or less what winning this photography scholarship would mean to you and why you are the best person for the assignment. In your essay tell us about yourself, your passion for photography, what motivates you and what your photography aspirations are. Paint us a picture of who the budding photographer is behind the story.

  3. Complete the application form

    You know the drill, fill in your personal details so we know how to contact you should you make the shortlist.

NOTE: Once you apply, you will not be able to go back and edit your application, so please make sure you are completely satisfied with your application before you hit the submit button. One application per person.

What the judges are looking for

This is your opportunity to showcase your photography skills and individual perspective on the world. Our goal is to give the winner of this scholarship a foot in the door of the travel photography industry - so your application should demonstrate your talent and desire to turn your passion into a profession. Your photo story should:

  • Feature an original subject and and your original perspective
  • Convey a compelling and cohesive story
  • Showcase your excellent technique and creative composition
  • Be supported by complimentary thoughtful captions

The scholarship recipient, along with the shortlist of the best photo stories will be published on the World Nomads website on October 26th, 2017.

NOTE: Should your entry reach the final round of judging you will be asked to supply the RAW file of each photo for comparison with your submission.

Applications have now closed. The winner was announced on 26 October 2017.

Update from World Nomads:

We’re acutely aware of what's currently going on in Myanmar and are following these serious issues closely. To be clear, World Nomads does not condone the human rights abuses being reported against the Rohingya people.

All of our scholarship opportunities take months of planning, and the choice of destinations is made well in advance. The situation in Myanmar has escalated along the exact timeline of this program.

We believe that traveling to a destination can have a more positive effect than boycotting it (read more on that here). However, we assure you that this assignment will in no way be voyeuristic, exploitative or supportive of the atrocities being committed in the Rakhine state.

Finally, we would never put you in danger, should Myanmar become unsafe for travel we will change the destination of the assignment.

FAQ

We've listed the top three questions here. Still have more questions? Check our FAQ page.

  • I am a professional photographer. Can I apply for this opportunity?
    The scholarship is not open to professional photographers of any kind.
  • Am I considered a professional photographer?
    We appreciate that the photography industry is difficult to break into and there are a lucky few who can count themselves as professional full-time photographers. This scholarship is very much about the mentorship opportunity, and the judging panel will be selecting the person who they feel will most benefit from the learning opportunity. For the purposes of this opportunity, we would consider you to be professional photographer if you derive more than 25% of your income from photographic activities of any kind. If you are a finalist, you will be asked to outline your experience to date, and it will be the judging panel who decides who is most suitable based on their previous experience, photographic essay and written component. So, whilst we are not stipulating exactly what does and does not constitute a professional, think about the spirit of the mentorship program and whether you think you would make the most ideal candidate.
  • I'm not sure if my application was submitted correctly. How do I check this?
    Successful applications will be visible within this section. If you cannot see your application here, it is likely we have not received your submission. Please try to apply again.