Support and Join us

Become part of our community

"Photography has the power to bear witness to history and bring understanding between all people."

-
Mstyslav Chernov

Why support us?

Photography is one of the main languages through which Ukraine communicates with the world today.

It's an honest and powerful tool that captures evidence of war crimes. In a world full of fakes, sometimes words are not enough. A photograph, the authenticity of which is easy to verify, can be an irrefutable document that conveys the truth and prevents distortion and rewriting of events.

UAPP (Ukrainian Association of Professional Photographers) exists to unite, amplify voices, and protect the rights of Ukrainian professional photographers at both the national and international levels. Now, after Russia's invasion, our mission has become even more critical - people from dozens of countries see the results of this work in the world's top media outlets.

Some of our colleagues have died. We must preserve their memory. Others risk their lives every day to show and tell the truth. We must support them.

A woman taking a picture of a soldier with a camera.

Become a patron and support the cause

Solidarity Supporter

With this contribution, you will help us develop new ways to support the community of Ukrainian professional photographers.

Curious Contributor

На цьому рівні ви отримаєте все, що має рівень Solidarity Supporter, а також ранній доступ до відеоінтерв'ю та можливостей.

Empowered Advocate

Підписники цього рівня отримають всі переваги попередніх рівнів, а також таємна перевага, про яку ми повідомимо незабаром.

Become a Patron and Support Us

Become a member and work with us

Become part of our passionate community

Join our community of passionate photographers and unlock opportunities for growth, learning, and collaboration.

Unlock opportunities for Personal & Professional Growth

You will receive everything that Solidarity Supporter has, as well as an early birds access to opportunities and video interview with our members.

Make an impact on the future of our nation

By joining us, you contribute to the preservation and promotion of Ukrainian photography as an integral part of our nation's cultural heritage.

Who can become a member?

1

You cover current events in Ukraine

2

You deal with war and other socially important topics of our time

3

Are active in strengthening the position of Ukrainian photography in the world by working with Ukrainian contexts

Candidate for Participation

If an applicant shows potential at the time of application, we allow one year to refine their portfolio and consider admission once all required materials are submitted. The candidate status is valid for one year and can be extended by the UAPP team.

Requirements

To participate, you are required to provide:

  • Personal recommendations from two members of the Association
  • A minimum of three years of professional experience
  • A current portfolio that highlights recent events and relates to events in Ukraine (existing members are encouraged to update their portfolios with relevant projects)
  • A motivational letter outlining how you can contribute to the community and how you would like to engage in our project activities
  • It is required to state in the biography on the website and social networks that you are a member of UAPF, as well as being open to submitting your own projects for publications/exhibitions/books within the organization's activities.

Benefits

Includes free membership with the following benefits:

  • Ability to receive a numbered certificate
  • Priority participation in exhibitions, micro-grant programs, and other community opportunities
  • For documentarians and photojournalists, assistance in obtaining press cards for work in conflict zones (with additional justification and a signed responsibility agreement)
  • Opportunity to receive a document of professional European qualification from FEP
  • Professional recommendations from the UAPP board upon request

Open voting procedure for new participants and participants

The Ukrainian Association of Professional Photographers unites authors who share the values of freedom, professional ethics and cultural responsibility. We strive to maintain a community based on mutual respect, trust and high quality standards. That is why the process of joining new participants and participants is transparent, collegial and aimed at establishing professional criteria in the field of Ukrainian photography.

Four times a year — March, June, September and December— there is an open voting procedure for new participants. Before each vote, an initiative curatorial group of 3-5 participants conducts the initial selection of candidates that meet the criteria of professionalism, ethics and visual quality. Only after that the nominations are put to an open vote of the community.

Voting continues from 15 to 20 of the specified months, and it can be attended by all current UAPP members who have an official certificate with a unique ordinal number—this is the number used for identification when voting.

Voting shall be considered valid provided that at least: 50% of active community members. A candidate is considered accepted into the association if he has received 51% or more of positive votes. If the support is lower, the application is automatically considered rejected.

Voting results are confidentialand are notified in person to the candidates by the 25th of the respective month. In case of refusal, each candidate (s) has the right to receive feedback with general recommendations.

You can reapply at any timeAfter completing the portfolio. There is no time limit.

The Chairman of the Board of UAPP, Mstislav Chernov, has the right to veto a collective decision in exceptional cases. In such a situation, the candidate receives the status “applicant (s) for admission”with the possibility of finalizing the portfolio and reviewing it again in a year.

Membership in UAPP automatically terminates under the following conditions

  • Justification of Russian armed aggression against Ukraine
  • Collaboration with media resources of the aggressor country
  • Collaboration with pro-Russian organizations funded/founded in Russia
  • Violation of journalistic ethics and professional standards, considering wartime circumstances
  • Systematic violations of photographer's professional ethics (unethical behavior in the professional environment)
  • Consistently passive participation in community activities (non-responsiveness to Association’s emails and requests)

During the annual review, membership is terminated for members who do not actively cover current Ukrainian events, do not reflect on relevant topics in their work, and are not active in the Ukrainian photographic context.

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Our partners

We tell the world about Ukraine through the prism of photography.

Join and support the community of Ukrainian photographers.

UAPP is an independent association of professional Ukrainian photographers, designed to protect their interests, support, develop and promote Ukrainian photography as an important element of national culture.

UAPP's activities span educational, social, research and cultural initiatives, as well as book publishing.

UAPP represents Ukrainian professional photography in the international photographic community and is an official member of the Federation of European Photographers (FEP) — an international organization representing more than 50,000 professional photographers in Europe and other countries around the world.

Support and join us
A couple of men walking across a grass covered field.