WHAT HAS BEEN WILL BE AGAIN has received an Honorable Mention in the 2026 Michael P. Smith Fund for Documentary Photography. Organized by the New Orleans Photo Alliance, the MPS Fund was created to honor the life and work of Michael P. Smith, one of New Orleans’ most legendary and beloved documentary photographers.
The award was juried by Alyssa Ortega Coppelman, a photography consultant and photo editor based in Austin, Texas. Coppelman is the Art Editor at Oxford American magazine and freelance editor with Harper’s Magazine. She has also served as a senior photo editor for National Geographic and as Archival Producer for PBS NewsHour.
The MPS Fund is open to emerging and established photographers residing in the Gulf Coast states (Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Florida and Georgia); the main criteria for selection is strength of the applicant’s portfolio and a written project statement, each demonstrating a commitment to a documentary project.
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