What can I do to make a difference?
Here is a GREAT article in the New York Times about how the enormously fashionable relief organization charity: water was started. Scott Harrison was quite simply a missionary photojournalist for Mercy Ships who had a spiritual awakening. I LOVE this story because it clearly establishes the direct connection between visual storytelling and the ability to tangibly help others overseas. This was just one guy with a camera and a serious vision from God. I know of other organizations that were started in exactly this same way, but Scott’s story clearly points out the power we have as concerned photographers to truly make a difference with our passion and our skills. Of course, in the case of charity: water it also points to an appropriate utilization of Web 2.0 marketing techniques- another topic that should interest all of us considerably.
As humanitarian photographers; socially concerned, Christian, or otherwise, we have an enormously powerful set of skills and tools at our disposal. Of course, as David DuChemin frequently reminds us, “gear is good, vision is better”. Therefore we must constantly dig in to discover what we want to say visually, what we want to do with these skills that we’ve been blessed with- then design our plan for making it happen.
A big thanks goes to Esther Havens for pointing out the NYT article- whom by the way has her own story that I really admire.
