John Kobal was very keen to find a way in which he could see his own enthusiasm for photography continued after his death. In 1990 he formed The John Kobal Foundation as a charity to which he donated the photographic negatives and fine art photographs that he had collected over the years. These provide a source of income that is used by the foundation to encourage interest in and help advance the general public’s appreciation and awareness of photography and particularly the area which most interested John – the art of portrait photography.
Since John’s death in October 1991, the foundation first pursued this aim through The John Kobal Photographic Portrait Award, an annual award for the best portrait photograph in association with the National Portrait Gallery. It ran for ten years from 1993-2002 and was regarded as the most prestigious award devoted to portrait photography in the UK, drawing well over 200,000 people to the National Portrait Gallery every year.
In recent years, the foundation sponsored, amongst other projects, the John Kobal Book Award in association with the Royal Photographic Society and it continues to encourage emerging photographers through the grant of John Kobal New Work Awards to help towards the costs of creating or exhibiting new work.
Over the past twenty years John’s has become synonymous with supporting emerging talent in British portrait and people-based photography. Although John had written many books and curated many exhibitions, the vintage fine art prints in this archive had never been exhibited or published. The foundation decided that the time was right to remind people about its Hollywood photography roots and that the best way to do so was by putting together a touring exhibition of these vintage prints and publishing a book/catalogue to accompany it. The result was Glamour of the Gods which was both as a book and exhibition (which toured to many venues as Made In Hollywood: photographs from the John Kobal Foundation) and is now also available as an iPad app.
Recent grants include:
The National Gallery, London for the educational programme being mounted in conjunction with the ground-breaking exhibition, Seduced by Art: Photography Past and Present which opens on 31 October 2012;
http://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/whats-on/exhibitions/seduced-by-art-photography-past-and-present
The National Portrait Gallery, London – as part of the annual Taylor Wessing Photographic Portrait Prize – the foundation will give a John Kobal New Work Award to a photographer under 30 who will undertake a commission for the NPG to photograph a sitter connected with the UK film industry
http://www.npg.org.uk/photoprize1/site12/award.php
National Media Museum for part of the funding for The National Media Museum First Book Award, part of the 2012 Kraszna-Krausz Book Awards, in partnership with MACK. This new award supports the publication of a book by a previously unpublished photographer;
http://www.mackbooks.co.uk/books/36-Mrs-Merryman-s-Collection.html
Photovoice, the award-winning international charity, to help underwrite projects which empower some of the most disadvantaged groups in the world with photographic skills so that they can transform their lives. Through photography these individuals find confidence in their voices and are enabled to speak out about their challenges, concerns, hopes and fears.
http://www.photovoice.org
