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In my last post, I talked about how a photographer can identify and approach NGOs (or, my specialty, an environmental NGO). As I said in that post, even after you form a relationship, getting an assignment to produce images can take a while. For larger NGOs, commissioning a photographer, covering expenses, and paying a day rate is a pretty rare occurrence. For the smaller NGOs, it’s even rarer. If your primary motivation for working with NGOs is to find a new market for your work, then you’re bound to be disappointed. That is not to say that NGOs can’t be a market but, to put it bluntly, if making money is your goal, there are a lot more effective places to put your energy.

A better way to assess if a relationship with an NGO is successful, is to consider whether you share some of the same long term goals and will be able to help each other accomplish those. In my own case, my long-term photographic and conservation interest in old-growth forests, the impacts of environmental degradation on indigenous peoples, and other issues align with a number of NGOs. These NGOs have helped me achieve my long-term goals as much as I have helped them, but the fact of the matter is, I would have found a way to work on these issues regardless of whether any NGO shared these same concerns.

So assuming you have an issue that you are compelled to document and you’ve identified one or several NGOs that share your interests, how can you build a relationship with them? Perhaps a few examples from my early experience will be instructive. With a couple of assignments under my belt and getting a little recognition for my work, I was asked to be a major contributor to a large-format coffee book on clearcut logging. A number of more established photographers, like Galen Rowell and Robert Glenn Ketchum were also involved, and, to the best of my knowledge, we all donated our time to the cause. It was a great experience for me — I had my expenses covered for a prolonged period of time in the field, was able to begin my work in the Canadian boreal region, met other committed photographers and activists, and received more recognition for my work.

After completing work on the clearcut book and witnessing so much devastation as a result of industrial logging, I felt compelled to share my experiences with a larger audience. In particular I was disturbed by plans to clearcut much of coastal Vancouver Island and the biologically rich, largely intact area of Clayoquot Sound. I was also deeply unsettled by the impact that logging and the associated pollution from pulp mills was having on the boreal and the local indigenous population. So, in the winter of 1993, I decided to go to Europe and give a series of presentations to build international awareness of what was going on in Canada.

With the moral support of two NGOs, The Friends of Clayoquot Sound and the Valhalla Wilderness Society, and some logistical support from Greenpeace and others, a colleague and I made plans, raised money, and set off for six weeks to give about 60 presentations in England, Scotland, Germany, and to the European Parliament in Brussels. We passed the hat, slept on activist’s couches, and had a wonderful experience. Although no one paid us, and we did all our own fundraising to cover our basic costs. And at the end of the day, including donations at our events, we were able to pay ourselves a modest honorarium and to donate some money back to the cause. More importantly, I was able to promote issues important to me to prominent NGOs and publications. They in turn came to me for images when these issues grew and took on international significance.

All of these activities can be considered “growing the relationship.” They helped me become a better photographer and better known for my work, while putting me in contact with people and organizations that would later purchase images, fund my work, and occasionally offer me assignments. And because at that time I was also involved in campaign strategy, creating markets campaigns, being a spokesperson, and other non-photographic activities, I learned a lot about how photography can advance conservation campaigns.

With this intimate knowledge of the needs and operations of NGOs, I was in a better position to work with them to create joint projects and self-funded projects that would meet their needs. Given how closely I was working with NGO’s, I was able to fundraise through groups with a charitable status, enabling me to receive money from foundations or individuals, which they, in turn, could write off for tax purposes. For me, working this way — doing much of the initial work of creating a project, fundraising, and working with groups from inception to completion — is far more common simply being handed an assignment, and often a more rewarding way to work with an NGO.