Kurt Markus Scholarship Fund

The Kurt Markus Family and Santa Fe Workshops are pleased to continue Kurt’s legacy as a teacher and role model for young photographers by awarding an annual scholarship in his name.

The Kurt Markus Photography Scholarship recognizes artistic promise coupled with a desire to live a photographic life by awarding a full scholarship to a one-week workshop in Santa Fe each summer to a young image-maker.

Kurt Markus was a visual poet of the American West, creating authentic portraits, classic landscapes, and beautifully seductive fashion images. His photographs touched all strata of humanity and left a lasting imprint that will endure for many generations.

Equally important to Kurt was his role as a mentor. Starting in 2008, he made time each year to teach at Santa Fe Workshops. Instructing solo, co-teaching with Norman Mauskopf, or joining Jimmy Chin and Robert Maxwell for a Santa Fe Workshops/Outside Magazine Master Class, Kurt was dedicated to passing on his knowledge and passion for photography to the new generation of photographers.

The Kurt Markus Photography Scholarship Fund offers financial support for a young photographer to attend a Santa Fe Workshop of their choice, including travel expenses to Santa Fe and return, workshop tuition and fees, car rental, meals, accommodations, and $500 for photographic supplies and miscellaneous expenses. In addition to the workshop in Santa Fe, the recipient will forever be linked to the spirit and accomplishments of Kurt as they traverse their own path forward in photography.

Photographers under 30 years old are encouraged to apply. Applications for this scholarship will be available on December 1 and due by January 15. There is no fee to apply for this scholarship. The jurors to award this annual scholarship are Laurie Kratochvil, Andy Anderson, and Reid Callanan.

$7500+ will receive a limited-edition digital print of Monument Valley by Kurt Markus. For details, inquire to Reid Callanan.
$5000
$2500
$1000
$500
$250
CENTER is a 501(c)(3) organization. Donations may qualify as a charitable deduction for federal income tax purposes.
DONATE NOW or at the bottom of this page.
Reid Callanan, Director of the Santa Fe Workshops
505-577-7790
rcallanan@santafeworkshops.com

About the Artist

Kurt Markus is an internationally acclaimed fine art photographer known for his black-and-white portraits, magazine and fashion work, landscapes, and nudes. The recipient of many of American photography’s highest honors, including several Clio Awards and Life magazine’s Alfred Eisenstaedt Award, Markus has also directed music videos and documentaries, written screenplays, and shot advertising campaigns for such diverse clients as BMW, Nike, and Kodak. His work has been presented at numerous museums and prestigious emporiums of fine art, including the Peter Fetterman Gallery in Santa Monica, the Obscura Gallery in Santa Fe, and New York City’s Staley-Wise Gallery. Critics have praised his “unique vision” and his “powerful sense of realism.” A reviewer in The New Yorker once called his images “quietly, unfailingly artful.” In 1994, Markus was one of five photographers selected to participate in a special 25th anniversary edition of Rolling Stone presenting the living legends of rock-n-roll.

Markus approached his subjects with what he has called a “simple-hearted” curiosity, and he remains stubbornly old-school in his methods. A master of the dark room—his “escape hatch,” as he calls it—he prints and tones his own gelatin silver prints, and he remains suspicious of digital tricks and sleights of hand. “I believe only in the rectangle,” he has said. “Filling that rectangle with a photograph remains the most challenging thing you can do. If you have to go outside of it, bringing in other non-photographic things to put inside, you run the risk of gimmickry. For me, the most powerful expression is the simplest.”

kurtmarkus.com

A generous lead donation of $25,000 has been made to inaugurate this fund.

Thank you for your consideration in supporting the Kurt Markus Scholarship Fund. We look forward to honoring and extending Kurt Markus’s legacy as a teacher and mentor through this annual scholarship.