Tim Hetherington grant for photojournalists to continue his work

The Tim Hetherington Grant has been launched on the final day of the world's largest photojournalism festival.

The Visa Pour l'Image Festival was a suitable launch pad for the €20,000 (approximately £17,517) grant, which will go towards a photographer "to complete an existing project on a human rights theme".

Hetherington, a respected photojournalist was killed in April 2011 in Libya when he and others came under fire during fighting between Gaddafi's forces and the rebels.

Chris Hondros, another well-known photojournalist, was also killed in the attack, and two other photographers, Guy Martin and Michael Christopher Brown, were wounded.

The grant is a joint effort by World Press Photo and Human Rights Watch, backed by Hetherington's parents Alastair and Judith. In celebration of his work, they're now on the hunt for someone to take on, in some respects, his legacy.

Hetherington, who won the World Press Photo of the Year in 2007 for his powerful picture of a US soldier, said in 2008: "Underpinning my work is a concern with human rights and analysing political ideas, with thinking about history and politics.

"It's also about witnessing, about telling stories. Photography to me is a way of exploring the world, creating narratives, and communicating with as many people as possible."

Aspiring photojournalists who have shot journalistic images might want to take a good look through their photobooks before they enter. The judges are looking for the same kinds of qualities that are up there with some of the best photographers in the world, that instinctive quality to capture a moment as Hetherington did.

This includes "work that operates on multiple platforms and in a variety of formats; that crosses boundaries between breaking news and longer-term investigation; and that demonstrates a consistent moral commitment to the lives and stories of the photographic subjects".

The deadline for applications is October 15th and the first recipient of the grant will be announced on November 5th.