SHOOTING FOR NGOs | News Photographer

COVER STORY
SHOOTING
FOR NGOS
NURTURING YOUR
SOUL & YOUR WORLD
By Alisa Booze Troetschel
Many photojournalists
want to use their talents
as storytellers to make
a difference in people’s
lives. But opportunities
to delve into an issue
sometimes sink to the
bottom of priority lists
in the current “do more
with less” newspaper
environment, and it’s a
challenge to devise a
financially viable
project while working
as a freelancer. > > >
A NEW BEGINNING.
In a rehabilitation
center in Uganda, a
young girl who had
been abducted by the
Lord’s Resistance
Army (LRA).
Photograph by
Stephen Shames
January 2009 NEWSPHOTOGRAPHER
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IN MANILA. Photojournalist Nana Buxani during the filming of “Life On The Tracks.” Photograph by Ditsi Carolino
Enrich Your Portfolio, Your Life
By Alisa Booze Troetschel
S
Washington, DC
tephen Shames, who began his career in
the 1960s, has watched the number of photography essays in magazines shrink over
the decades. “I’d starve to death if I had to
rely on journalism to make a living right
now,” said Shames, a freelance photojournalist. “Because
they’re just not doing the kind of in-depth stories that I do.”
In-depth stories allow time to learn about and to know
subjects, a part of her work that gets freelancer Nana
Buxani excited. The former newspaper shooter set a goal to
explore the spread of children contracting AIDS in
Cambodia. During a previous project, she met a UNICEF
staff person who now works in Cambodia. Conversations
with the UNICEF group will give her contacts and an
understanding of the problem to guide her reporting.
She knows exactly how to make her project happen.
Partnering with nongovernmental organizations
(NGOs) and other nonprofits is a specialty for some freelancers. Shames, Buxani, and others developed ways to
visually explore their interests and still make a living at it.
Photojournalists like Filippo Mutani kick-start their
careers by building an impressive body of work photographing for NGOs.
Their images get before the eyes of the public. Their
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NEWSPHOTOGRAPHER January 2009
efforts support social justice and humanitarian causes.
And, in return for fees, logistical support, contacts, or
access, NGOs receive professional photography to use in
fundraising and public awareness efforts.
PHOTOJOURNALISM OR PUBLIC RELATIONS? The audience
for a journalistic publication and an NGO is different,
Shames learned. When NGOs use photography, part of their
audience is the people they serve. Shames thinks that NGOs
are reluctant to allow clients to be portrayed in a negative
light. However, journalistic ethics mandate honest, unslanted reporting.
Shames resolved the quandary for himself. He acknowledges that as a journalist, he has “a commitment to the
truth.” As a college student, he protested against the war in
Vietnam. “At the same time, I was a journalist,” he said. “I
didn’t see that as a contradiction because I felt that the
things I was photographing were also the truth.”
Considering how you need to report, and understanding the expectations of the NGO, can help to avoid feelings
of frustration and disappointment. Photographers may
want to research the NGO and to scrutinize the project.
Buxani had done projects for the World Bank. When
they contacted her about filming an effort to promote
development in a region, she was inclined to accept. “If
you read the proposal, it sounds good,” she said.
“But if you look closely,” Buxani said, “a whole, full
YOUNG PRISONERS. Children packed into close quarters in the “Minor’s Quarters” jail in Visayas, Philippines, in 2002. Photograph by Nana Buxani
January 2009 NEWSPHOTOGRAPHER
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CHILDREN'S’ PLIGHT. In Uganda as many as 10,000 children were called “Night Commuters” because they walked from the countryside into village centers
each night to sleep in the safety of each other’s company, to prevent being kidnapped into the rebel army or sex slavery. Photograph by Stephen Shames
community of people are being convinced to leave their
ancestral domains to give way to this dam.” She opted not
to participate.
The NGO’s investment of time and money to enable
the photography may affect the ability to report without
restriction. Shooters who initiate open and frank conversations will lay the foundation for a positive experience.
GETTING STARTED. Buxani built a business freelancing for
NGOs, beginning with Oxfam in 1991. “I tend to document
people who don’t have voices in the newspaper, who don’t
have access to media,” she said.
With NGOs as partners or clients, Buxani picked her
way through sugar cane fields and walked into prisons in
the Philippines to document children working and children behind bars. She recommends contacting NGOs
working with an issue you’d like to cover, or in an area of
the world you want to photograph.
Going a step further, Shames suggests approaching several NGOs working in the region. By searching the
Foundation Center Web site, he finds organizations operating where he is traveling. Multiple assignments maximize
the potential return on his investment.
Buxani makes pitches to organizations. She picks the
brains of knowledgeable staff on the ground in order to
better prepare to photograph personal projects.
For those wishing to build a business in NGO photog46
NEWSPHOTOGRAPHER January 2009
raphy, Shames advises beginning with smaller NGOs. He
suggests initially working for free if necessary. The goal is
to amass a body of work to show to larger organizations.
WORKING OUT THE DEAL. Shames does pro bono work if he
knows the NGO cannot afford his fee. “I need money, like
everybody else,” he said. “But sometimes it’s something you
really want to do and so, you just do it. After all, it is an
NGO. They’re theoretically doing some public good.”
However, Shames is careful how he donates his time.
Larger NGOs and nonprofits are comparable to corporations in terms of budget and structure. “I wouldn’t do
something for nothing for the Red Cross,” he said. “They
have billions of dollars. They can afford to pay a photographer.”
Working out what Buxani calls an “access deal” is a
common arrangement. The NGO provides the photojournalist with access. In return, the organization gets pictures.
Overseers of some environments, such as refugee camps
in war zones, forbid photojournalists to enter. With the
blessing of the NGO, the situation changes, as Shames
experienced in Uganda with Médecins Sans Frontières
(Doctors Without Borders).
Organizational staff build relationships in communities
they assist. When introduced by NGO workers, the photographer borrows upon that trust to make more intimate
photographs.
DOCUMENTING & TEACHING. Photojournalist Stephen Shames rode with Ugandan government soldiers on the way to a refugee camp along a road that was
often controlled by rebel soldiers, in a picture taken by one of Shames’ Ugandan photography students. Photograph by Wasswa Charles
“ We’re tal k i ng ab out p eopl e
who gi ve th ei r l i ves fo r a
go od ca use, so us u al l y
you h ave col la bo ra ti ve
p eop l e i n fro nt of you .”
– Ste ph e n S h am es
Many NGOs provide tangible assistance to offset
expenses. Frequently staff on the ground speak the local
language. They have transportation. Asking the NGO to
provide lodging and meals is an option.
While freelancer Mutani was willing to buy plane tickets from his home in Italy to Malawi and Peru, he expected
the NGOs to handle logistics after his arrival. In Malawi,
he stayed with an NGO staff person and ate with the family. His photography took place in one location: the delivery rooms of a nearby hospital. Mutani showed the danger,
and joy, of giving birth in an impoverished nation lacking
in healthcare. The setup was simple and easy, he said.
Showing the challenges faced by transsexual prostitutes
in Peru required more support. “I needed to have a driver,
because the driving there is quite crazy,” said Mutani.
“Well, it’s not that crazy compared to Italy, but it’s still
crazy.” Much of his shooting happened on the streets in “a
very, very bad quarter of Lima, which is a very dangerous
place.” To protect Mutani and his equipment, the NGO
provided a car with a driver who never left his side. And,
the agency picked up the tab for lodging and meals.
“They are very, very collaborative, for two reasons, I
think,” Mutani said. “The first one is because they have it
in their DNA.” He laughed and said, “We’re talking about
people who give their lives to a good cause, so usually you
have collaborative people in front of you.”
The second reason is that the photography advances the
NGOs’ goals. “You’re raising awareness of what they’re
doing abroad, and probably you’re going to bring money
to them in order to make their efforts even more efficient,”
Mutani said.
Shames points out that these expenses can add up to
significant sums. In order to obtain the desired coverage,
an NGO paid ten to twelve thousand dollars for his two
flights from the States to Kenya, as well as on-the-ground
expenses.
Some NGOs have the budget to pay photographer’s
fees. International NGOs tend to have greater capabilities
than local groups, Buxani says.
AGREEMENTS ABOUT RIGHTS AND USAGE. Explaining expectations in a contract is good business practice. Shames writes
an informal, one-page document spelling out rights and
usage of the images. The National Press Photographers AssoJanuary 2009 NEWSPHOTOGRAPHER
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LOST YOUTH. The back-breaking labor of child work-
ers toiling in gold mines in the Diwalwal Davao del
Norte region of Mindanao, Philippines, was documented by the photojournalist in 1996.
Photograph by Nana Buxani
January 2009 NEWSPHOTOGRAPHER
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BORN INTO HARDSHIP. Amayi, 18, rested shortly after delivering a baby in Malawi, in the heart of Africa, where 12,000 women give birth each year at the
REBUILDING LIVES. A former rebel child soldier who is now enrolled in LEAD Uganda, an educational leadership program supported by the Stephen
Shames Foundation, Ronald Okello worked with a physical therapist when he received a new prosthetic arm. Photographs by Stephen Shames
A TALE OF SURVIVAL. Before he got his prosthetic arm, Ronald Okello studied inside his hut at the Pader camp for internally displaced refugees. He
became a top student and a student leader after joining the LEAD Uganda
program, Shames said. Okello was kidnapped when he was only nine,
forced to become a rebel child soldier, saw his father hacked to death, and
lost his arm in the war that’s plagued Uganda for more than 20 years.
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NEWSPHOTOGRAPHER January 2009
ciation offers an example, advice, and negotiating tips on its
Web site.
Frequently Shames offers nonexclusive rights to the
NGO. Mutani made a similar arrangement with the groups
for whom he photographed. Both photojournalists actively
market the pictures on their own and through their agencies.
“I always put a positive spin on it,” says Shames, sharing
his response to objections NGOs sometimes express to selling the images or paying for usage. He points out that the
usage fee reflects a nonprofit rate, as opposed to charging
higher corporate rates.
“If I’m able to sell the pictures to magazines,” Shames
explains. “That’s kind of how I can afford to do it a little bit
lower for you.
“But the second way it works for you,” Shames adds, “is
you get free publicity.” If the picture sells, the organization’s name is in the caption. “You actually should want me
to put the pictures in the magazine,” he tells the NGO.
Most groups see his point of view.
Shames insists that NGOs only use his images for their
own materials. “If you sponsor a photography exhibit,
fine,” said Shames. “But you can’t give the picture to
UNICEF to use in one of their photography exhibits. No.
They have to come to me.” If NGOs want that freedom, he
accommodates them – at a higher price.
Quoting fees in the nonprofit world differs from the
media world. They don’t want to contact the photographer
every time they use a picture. As Shames puts it, “NGOs are
not set up to be constantly bargaining about photography
rights.”
To make the situation more comfortable, Shames offers
Bottom Hospital of Lilongwe, a large public and free maternity ward. Malawi has the second highest maternal death rate in the world (more than 1 percent), and 17 percent of the pregnant women are HIV positive. Photograph by Filippo Mutani
what he calls “a two-tier price.” The lower cost is for a specific use. “I’m going to give you a price for the brochure,”
Shames tells the NGO, “realizing that you’re going to have
to come back to me every other time you want to use the
picture. If you’re going to ever think of doing anything else
with the picture besides the brochure, you ought to just go
with this other price. It’s not that much more.” That figure
is normally two or three times the single usage. “But you
don’t ever have to come back to me,” he says, clinching his
argument. He usually offers unlimited usage for three to
five years.
“ NG Os a re not set up to b e
co nsta nt l y ba rga in i ng ab out
ph otog ra phy r i ghts.”
– S ha m es
RECOUPING THE INVESTMENT. Sometimes the photojournalist funds the work up front, and afterwards the NGO purchases the images. Buxani remembers two projects where
she could not convince organizations to cover her expenses.
She footed the bill to photograph the aftermath of a typhoon.
Then she sold pictures to an NGO conducting relief efforts.
She financed a project about children in a Filipino prison.
After seeing her work, an NGO contracted with her for more
coverage. They put together an exhibit, and hired her to
teach workshops to children.
Picture agencies represent Buxani, Mutani, and Shames.
Redux sold two bodies of NGO work, Buxani reports. Her
SO DANGEROUS, DEADLY. Child workers in Philippine mines use mercury
to extract gold from crushed rocks. Photograph by Nana Buxani
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ESSAYS THAT BUILD CAREERS. Photojournalist Filippo Mutani
(below, in a self-portrait atop New York’s Empire State
Building) is now based in Milan. In one of his projects he
documented Peruvian transvestites who live around Avenida
Pachacutec, the poorest and most dangerous area of Lima,
such as Daniela, 20 (at left). Photographs by by Filippo Mutani
Fou nd at io ns mi ght sup por t
p hotog ra phy p roje cts w hich
a dva nce th e goal s of an
a dvo ca cy gro u p.
work sells better in European markets than in the States.
But, sometimes patience is required. She waited two to
three years before finding buyers for her projects about
children in prisons, and communities on the edge of railroad tracks.
Shames emphasizes that it’s vital to think creatively
about how to market your images. “The marketing is just
as important as the photography,” he said. “In fact, it may
even be more important in terms of making a living.” He
describes Mary Ellen Mark as “a marketing genius” and
Eugene Richards as “always thinking of new angles.”
“If you look at the photographers who are successful,”
Shames remarks, “a lot of them are really great photographers and some of them aren’t so great photographers, but
the one thing that unifies them is they all really hustle.
They’re thinking, where can I get these pictures? What can
I do with them?”
Shames published his photographs of children living in
poverty in the 1980’s in a variety of venues. The Los
Angeles Times, Chicago magazine, and Stern gave him
assignments while he worked on the project. When he finished, he teamed up with the Children’s Defense Fund to
further disseminate the pictures. Together, they published
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NEWSPHOTOGRAPHER January 2009
a book, Outside the Dream: Child Poverty in America. He
reaped just a few thousand dollars in royalties.
But, in the form of reviews or articles, the book
appeared in over one hundred publications. Excerpts were
printed in Newsweek, U.S. News & World Report, and
Esquire. Shames reports he enjoyed a significant income
from stock sales to magazines, television stations, films and
books. He attributes the success to producing Outside the
Dream.
Understandably, Shames values assembling his photographs into books. They bring exposure that generates
picture sales and make an effective marketing tool. He
takes along a copy of a recent book to meetings with art
directors and inscribes it to them.
“They love it,” said Shames. His book remains in the
director’s office, serving as a reminder of the talent he
offers.
A book also helps to sell photojournalism as fine art
prints. Shames collected his photography of the Black
Panther movement into a book, The Black Panthers. A
gallery represents him and sells prints.
“The book has become the catalogue,” he said. “People
look at the book and will call up the art gallery and say, I’d
like this print.”
Without an accompanying book, it is difficult to persuade a museum to mount an exhibit of your images.
There are two reasons, Shames says. First, the book “legitimizes the exhibit.” It lends status to the work. The second
reason is about profit, because the museum will sell the
book in their shop.
FINANCING THE PROJECT. Buxani lives simply in order to do
the work she values. Photographing motion pictures, teaching photography workshops, and making illustrations augment her income.
Freedom and flexibility are a priority for Shames. To
gain these, he decreases his business overhead. This allows
him to photograph nonpaying stories for several months.
“One of the ways I do that is I try to get foundation
grants,” he says. “I find advocacy groups that share my
interest in that issue and we put in a grant together.”
Shames has received numerous grants from the Annie
E. Casey, Robert Wood Johnson, and Ford Foundations.
These foundations invested in the work of the NGO. Keep
the end result in mind when applying for grant money, he
advises.
“The grants that I get for my photography projects are
not photo grants,” Shames explained. “Ford wasn’t doing
it to benefit me. They were doing it to benefit the advocacy
group, who were using my pictures to grow, who were
using my pictures to try and change public policy.” Shames
credits Ken Light, a professor of photojournalism at the
University of California at Berkeley, for sharing the idea
with him that foundations might support photography
projects which advance the goals of an advocacy group.
Occasionally Shames approaches a corporation to fund
a project. He presents it as a public relations initiative. This
is appropriate when the corporation makes significant sales
in the country where the project is, or employs many
workers there.
Working with NGOs can help photojournalists pursue
the projects they yearn to do. At the same time, they can
derive the satisfaction of helping to relieve pain, right
injustice, and restore peace.
“I get energized listening to peoples’ stories,” Buxani
says. “Ordinary people, people who have done amazing
community work but their stories never get told or photographed.” ■ – [email protected]
January 2009 NEWSPHOTOGRAPHER
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