Awards

Over the last quarter century, the Center for Documentary Studies has given awards to more than 350 emerging and established documentarians to recognize excellence and extend monetary support:

CDS Documentary Essay Prize—for the best in short-form documentary photography or writing

CDS Filmmaker Award—for artists in competition at the Full Frame Documentary Film Festival

CDS/Honickman First Book Prize in Photography—was given from 2002 to 2016 for bodies of work that are visually compelling, bear witness, and have integrity of purpose

Dorothea Lange–Paul Taylor Prize—for projects that rely on the interplay of words and images

Click here for more information about Undergraduate Awards & Fellowships.

Photos

A black and white diptych of a woman carrying a bag,
A black and white dashcam still of a couple kissing in a car.
A man kneeling at a grave decorated with colorful flowers; he is holding a photo.
A woman in a hijab looking to the right, off frame.
A black and white photo with japanese and english writing superimposed over it.
A man and a woman at a table in a kitchen.
Red plastic sandals on ground littered with leaves.
A hand resting on a printed portrait of a Black boy.
A block of text, left, and an image of Korean children on a carnival ride, right.