Over the years, Fritt Ord has worked to strengthen the position of documentary photography through special calls for applications for funding, providing ongoing support for photo books and exhibitions, and establishing projects like The Norwegian Journal of Photography.
The Norwegian Journal of Photography was established in 2011 to serve as an arena where independent photographers who work in the interface between traditional press photography on the one hand and art photography on the other will be able to present the full scope of their projects.
This initiative by the Fondazione Banca del Monte di Lucca (Italy), the Fundação Calouste Gulbenkian (Portugal), the Fritt Ord Foundation (Norway) and the Körber-Stiftung (Germany) aimed to contribute to and to intensify dialogue within Europe. It also wanted to support young European photographers at the beginning of their careers by providing international facilities.
The project ran from 2011 to 2018.
To strengthen the position of documentary photography in Norway, Fritt Ord invited applications for project funding of up to MNOK 6 from civic-minded photographers.