Have we all had, by now, just enough of the ‘Hey, look what I did!’ part of photography? We show our friends, we show our family, we show our camera clubbers, we show our workmates, our neighbors, our maids, our butlers, we basically show everyone we possibly can our pictures…and then what? Are we doing all this work, putting in all this time, spending all this money, reading all these posts for a polite “oh, isn’t that lovely!” or “you must have a really good camera”?
I hope not. There’s got to be something more.
I wanted to call this little essay: ‘Getting the Me, Me, Me out of your Photography’ but I decided it was too cute; to the point but too cute. This titled exactly captures my point though because as soon as you begin to think about something other than glorifying yourself a huge world of opportunity and exciting photography opens to you. Let me explain.
There is something important you can do with your pictures, your artistry and your hard acquired skill, something that can make you feel inspired and needed. Plus it can reinvigorate your photography and take it to places you never thought of before. It’s all good and there is now downside. Curious yet?
Almost all non-profit organizations (charities) desperately need images. Images are essential to a non-profit’s work. Strong pictures galvanize the core donors, they attract new donors, they tell the story, explain the mission, and reach out to potential new donors. Without strong images a non-profit will flounder and struggle to keep afloat. This is where you come in.
Where ever you live there are non-profit organizations that need your photographic help. Pick one or two or six that you believe in, stick your head in their door and get to work. You will be amazed what a difference you can make. And shouldn’t that be the point of our photography? Shouldn’t it be about making our little piece of the world a better place? So let’s do less ‘me, me, me’ and a bit more ‘them, them, them.’
If this strikes your fancy and you want to know more about how to go about and photograph for a non-profit I teach three workshops a year through Crossroads Photographic Workshops and the Santa Fe Workshops that will help you. We just finished one in Santa Fe, New Mexico partnering with the Santa Fe Watershed Association- it was a great and rewarding experience for all involved. The next Crossroads workshop will be in June in Vermont and we will be partnering with the Vermont Land Trust and the Dorset Equine Rescue.
Checkout the Crossroads Photographic Workshops website for more information on upcoming workshops.