Winners of Ant Clausen Fire it Up Fund 2024 Announced

Eight young photographers and film makers aged between 17 and 23 have been announced as the winners of the Ant Clausen Fire It Up Fund.

Set up in memory of Liverpool based photographer Ant Clausen, the £20,000 fund aims to help young people with a talent and passion for photography to get the right equipment, contacts, training and support to turn their passion into a paycheck.

The eight winners of awards in the first year of the fund are Georgia Madden, Ella McConville, James Clements, Soukaina Dahhan, Jamey Cassidy, Ayla Gardiner, Rowan Mair and Dale Bristo.

Sarah Fisher, Director of Open Eye Gallery and the main partner in the fund said:

‘we were inundated with applicants for the fund of a very high standard, but the work of these 8 young people stood out as having incredible potential.

They all work in different mediums – from stop motion animation to wildlife photography and portraiture and so we will be working with everyone over the next 12 months to find opportunities and experiences that help them make the leap they need from young people with a passion to professionals who can make a living doing what they love.’

The team behind the fund hope to create a network which will provide opportunities and support for the award winners to help them increase their experiences and build their portfolios for future opportunities.

As well as ACC Liverpool Group and GSG Hospitality – supporting partners of the fund – a range of experiences have already been identified for award winners in shadowing photographers or working with local organisations such as Merseyrail.