About VII Academy

The strategy of VII Academy is to promote, teach, and foster high-quality international journalism in the majority world and underrepresented communities in G20 countries.

We do this by providing tuition-free education to emerging professionals and students from these communities in media practice, visual journalism, narrative, ethics, business, and entrepreneurship, thereby enabling in the long term a culture whereby the information narrative is democratized.

VII Academy is the education branch of The VII Foundation, and is funded by Jennifer Stengaard Gross and Peter Stengaard of Blue Chip Foundation and The William, Jeff, and Jennifer Gross Family Foundation. The VII Foundation is an independent, charitable media and education non-profit organization. It was founded by Ron Haviv and Gary Knight in 2001 when they recognized that media funding for long term projects was diminishing. In order to continue to produce work that addressed complex social, economic and human rights issues they started The VII Foundation as an independent non-profit structure to secure support for continuing documentary practice and education.

With campuses in two strategic locations–Arles, France, and Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina–VII Academy offers the highest standard of education in photography, journalism ethics, business practice, and real-world training. Through scholarships to established programs, on-campus seminars and workshops, and events like VII in Sarajevo: Festival of the Image and the annual Foundry Photojournalism Workshop VII Academy is creating a valuable mentorship network between seasoned veterans and talented and committed young photographers.