Shooting images for a charity has its own unique rewards. In this, the season of giving, Rob Ditessa talks to three professional photographers who shoot pro bono for good causes.
Reflecting on his experiences of making photography for a cause, rather than for commercial gain, Hamish Gregory recounts this tale. A businessman visited an exhibition in Melbourne of Gregory's work from a photography project for an orphanage in Kenya in 2008. The businessman was so moved by an image of a boy at the orphanage that he sponsored the boy's school education, and at the time of writing the boy was about to enter a university in Nairobi. Gregory, a commercially successful shooter with awards under his belt, explains how from this situation he experienced at first hand the potential power for good in a single photograph. The boy's life was changed because a photo stirred someone into action, half way around the world.
"Genuine pro bono projects are a great thing to do. They're like yoga for photographers. They can be a great way to realign your values. So much of what we do as photographers is to not only make spur-of-the-moment judgements, but also to work with types that can be easily understood by readers and clients.
In contrast, with pro bono projects you can find yourself doing work that really matters and communicate a story that needs to be told. For me, however, the best thing about pro bono work is the people you meet. Often, I'm just in awe when I hear their stories," he says.
Hilary Wardhaugh has a successful practice in Canberra and is the current ACT AIPP President. Because she knows it is a good cause, Wardhaugh gives her time to Heartfelt – www.heartfelt.org.au – a volunteer organisation which creates photographic memories for families who have experienced stillbirths. Wardhaugh does other pro bono work, but she has been dismayed recently. One request for her free labour came in the form of a cut-and-paste e-mail obviously being sent to many practitioners. On its webpage, one organisation lists sponsors and corporate friends. She asked for a mention or a link to her website. They didn't want to put anything online about the fact that they get free photography from her, she reports, though the annual report carried a mention of her work.
Another group offered her signage at their event, but she didn't have the time and she explained that in any case any exposure wouldn't pay her bills. Though that might sound cold, she feels there is a whole industry out there seeking people who are willing to work for free.
By contrast, Wardhaugh's community spirit prompted her to take on some pro bono work in her locality where the local annual show is an important event in the region's economic and cultural life. She saw that she could apply her skills to improving one aspect of the show's promotion.
"I approached the Queanbeyan Show and said that I'd like to do some photography for them as in my opinion it seemed that what they had been using was outdated," she says. "I did this to help boost the profile of the show." If you get the kudos for doing the job, and the good feeling for helping, and if you feel passionately about a charity or cause, Wardhaugh says, go ahead and do the work – but only if you can manage it properly.
Gregory says, "If I've been available, I don't think I have ever said, 'no' to a genuine request. But by 'genuine' I mean a project that's not someone trying to get a commercial photographer to work for free for a commercial end. So if I'm approached about a project that's either helping people or that I think has great artistic merit then I try to find a way to agree. If it's a business just being frugal, then I'll decline."
Hamish Gregory's pro bono series on refugee life in Australia was produced for Amnesty International. The aim of the series was to record the reality of daily life for refugee families living in Australia. Canon EOS 5D Mk II, 24-105mm lens @ 24mm, 1/400s @ f/5.6, ISO 320. Available light and bounce.
There is an argument that you can use pro bono work as a springboard into a professional career. Wardhaugh cautions against doing pro bono jobs with the thought that you're getting exposure, without considering the greater picture. She has always taken the AIPP emerging photographers that she mentors through the exercise of itemising the actual costs in a pro bono job. Make sure, she tells them, that there is a benefit from the work. She also tells them to make certain they can manage the social media aspect, maybe blog about it, and get the people they're doing it for to blog about the coverage.
Gregory sums up his thoughts, "In terms of career development I suppose it depends on what type of photographer you want to be. If you want to work in advertising or fashion and you're solely focussed on that, then I think it would be more strategic for you to work in an ad agency or as an intern at a publication for a few years. But if you're interested in the craft of photography and personal development, then pro bono work could be for you. Generally, you have a lot of control over the images you take, so you can try things you might not normally get to try on a paid gig. And with these projects, I enjoy the challenges and creative solutions that come from working with no budget."
Israel Smith says taking pictures for a cause is a good thing for society, and a photographer can grow immensely as a person and a creative professional. He says shooters will gain networking opportunities, portfolio images, and first-hand experience as a photographer working with tight budgets. You can hone your skills confronting exciting visual and communication challenges, and from exposure to new ideas, people, shooting conditions and locations. "How could any of those things be bad, or hinder your cause, if you want to become a professional?" he asks rhetorically. Israel Smith, a successful family and portrait photographer, undertook two major projects for the Sydney's Prince Of Wales Children's Hospital Foundation, the fundraising arm of the hospital, following on from a simple request for a publicity shot of the CEO. Smith remembers, "I asked 'What sort of budget are you working to for this?', and they replied, 'We're a charity, can you do it for free?'
We had experience of the hospital services and thought that it was the right thing for me to give something back. My philosophy on business as a whole is that there's always enough pie to share. If you do really well at business, you'll be fine. If you do badly at business, you're obviously going to struggle. We've been fortunate to be in a position where we had done the business side well, and if anything it has added value and credibility to what we do."
Does providing pro bono work devalue the industry? Smith says his view is that it doesn't devalue the industry, but giving away images or doing work for free for a commercial entity, does devalue it. He says that approach is ridiculous. Every photographer needs to assess his or her own set up. He says that if you can afford the time, and it's not going to hurt your business, you should go for it.
The Foundation's CEO liked his initial work and he began photographing fundraising events such as lunches, dinners and telethons, and publicity images such as the one for a flyer promoting bequests. In late 2008, they discussed the concept of photographing a documentary that covered a full 24-hour period in the hospital. The aim was to show that the hospital deals with more than emergencies and that a gamut of activities happens 24 hours a day. Over a series of meetings they established the nature of the project, what he would shoot, and arrangements for release forms from patients and parents, amongst other matters. Consulting with different departments, they identified the times of different activities to develop a map.
Hamish Gregory used window light to capture this low-key portrait of a young boy at a Kenyan orphanage. Mamiya 7 II with Kodak 400NC film, 1/60s @ f/4, ISO 400.
"I went into it fairly clear in my own head about how I wanted to approach it, which was, for want of a better analogy, like a war zone – shoot everything you see and then make sense of it later. So, to get the moment we'd capture that while it was raw, and then we'd go and ask for permission, and explain what we were about. Once you start asking the question first, then the dynamic changes, and it becomes constructed."
He worked three eight-hour shifts over the course of one-and-a-half days. He was chaperoned by a hospital official as he worked unobtrusively and with a sense of politeness and compassion, informed by the recollections of his own experiences in the hospital.
At the end of the three shifts, Smith says he was "an absolute wreck". He says the experience gave him "an interesting insight of what the doctors and the nurses go through working shift work."
Wardhaugh also talks about the effect of working in traumatic situations. "On Sunday I was trying to go out and photograph a stillborn, and I'm pretty good at doing it now, but I know that possibly somewhere in my psyche it has affected me and that I'm organising to go and photograph a dead child. And I know it does affect me photographing these children, and these families, and sometimes I do cry and need to download. That's the good thing about Heartfelt – we do download on other people."
In his kit for his pro bono assignment Israel Smith had one digital SLR and three zooms that took him from 14mm to 200mm, a range that let him shoot everything he needed to in the hospital. He also carried a 50mm prime as well. In his shoulder bag, he had a fist full of memory cards, a water bottle and a few snacks.
He remembers, "I would look at a scene and as I was moving to where I thought the shot was going to be, I would use the controls on the camera to get my exposure, and then by the time I put the camera to my eye, it was within maybe a stop. Then I could just use the meter to adjust settings as I needed. To press the shutter button, to get the moment – it was all about that, being in the moment and preparing in advance to get those little fleeting occurrences."
Hamish Gregory was looking to capture his subjects in unguarded moments when he shot his series on refugee life in Australia for Amnesty International. Canon EOS 5D Mk II, 50mm f/1.4 lens, 1/160s @ f/4, ISO 160, flash.
The other project was much longer and slower, capturing the construction of a new hospital wing over 10 months by photographing for an hour or two every couple of weeks. The project helped Smith explore and develop a different side of his photography, understanding how light plays on buildings, how to shoot for texture and for shape, and how to shoot for an inanimate object rather than a person, which was his usual subject and forte.
Based on his experience in pro bono work, Smith says you must first recognise what you're interested in personally and are willing to do on a pro bono basis, because there are subjects that might make you uncomfortable.
Second, you need to manage expectations and set guidelines with organisations. He always keeps the copyright for his images. He told the foundation they could use his images except for commercial profit. However, if the building company wanted to use his images they had to get a commercial licence from him because it was a commercial enterprise.
Smith says he reached a point where he could not sustain that intensity and amount of pro bono work. His business had grown, to a point where he had four photographers working for him, and with the arrival of a baby, his wife stepped out of the business routine. The hours he put into the pro bono work had a financial impact on the business and on him as he began to feel burnt out. He negotiated an agreement with the foundation which let him work as the official photographer, but not for every single event. Additionally, from each of the two projects,
Smith has published a book that raised money for the hospital. Deliberating on terminology, Smith says that although he hasn't thought about it too much, pro bono is the most commonly understood term to describe this type of work. "When I've done talks in previous years, and conferences, I've called it 'photography with a cause'."
Israel Smith shot this image as part of a 'Day in the Life' project for the Sydney Prince of Wales Children's Hospital Foundation. It shows several children wired up for sleep analysis, during the 'Festival of Bubbles'. Images were shot in Raw on the Nikon D3, using available light and processed using Adobe Bridge and Photoshop. Nikon D3, 24mm, 1/200s @ f/2.8, ISO 3200.
Smith uses Nikon cameras and comments, "I much prefer full-frame DSLRs, and this comes from when I used to shoot film on Nikon F80s. I own a D200, and a couple old D70s, but the crop factor just kills me. I much prefer my lenses to look like they're supposed to, like I got used to when learning how to shoot. I went from zooms to primes and back to zooms. I kept my primes. I also own a 35mm f/2 and a 24mm f/2.8, but they don't see daylight much any more. The 35mm is still one of my favourite focal lengths, but it's been broken for a while, and I haven't gotten around to fixing or replacing it.
"I found that shooting weddings and fast-moving kids and families meant that zooms were better for me to work fast and frame what I want and how I want it more effectively. A 70-200mm lens is amazing for portraiture; such lovely compression perspective. It gives the subject a bit of personal space, while allowing me to get really tightly cropped, and it does such lovely things to the background at 200mm f/2.8.
"A 50mm f/1.4 is my 'go-to' lens for personal shooting. I got right into street photography when I was first taking classes and learning how to shoot, and that lens is the same one, and it just rocks. It's a great way of seeing the world, and shooting it at f/2 gives me such sharp subjects, but such blurry backgrounds. I simply love it. A 24-70mm lens is a great all-purpose lens for 'up-close-and-personal' work, as it can go really wide for a great landscape-style shot, and yet in the next frame zoom in and deliver a great portrait. And it is very sharp.
"A Tamron 90mm f/2.8 macro is my old prime portrait lens, but it still works for macro, and sometimes a long, heavy telephoto zoom just isn't practical. It gives me some telephoto effect and it's beautiful for portraits, without being super heavy. It's mega sharp and it has nice contrast, although because this is the old film version, it hunts for focus a bit."
Smith says, "I use 4GB memory cards to throttle my shooting. Sometimes I get carried away, and having to stop and change every 80 to 90 frames is good practice for me. I shoot Raw mostly, and Raw + Small B&W JPEG for personal work. I love B&W and find that shooting it in-camera, for the JPEGs only, gives me a different flavour and mindset when I shoot. The portable hard drive I only really used for the 'A Day in the Life' project and I haven't touched it much since. It was awesome to be able to back up as I worked, knowing how many Raw files I was going to end up with."
For carrying his equipment, he says, "I'm on my second copy of a Tenba bag. I wore the first one out, and I wouldn't change it at all. It's perfectly suited to my style. I used to have a 'bum-bag' style pouch, but I found that when I started going back to zoom lenses, it was just too cumbersome. On lighting, he says, "When shooting studio, or events, I used either studio-flash or on-camera SB-800 flash units. I hardly ever use flash, as it changes the look of the light far too much. Instead, I prefer the character, shape, texture, colour of available light. And it means I don't interfere with or interrupt the interactions of the people I'm shooting."
"I want to add that after scanning my caption to the first image, I always work hard to get my settings right in-camera, but Raw gives me more leeway and more options in post-production nowadays. I think every shooter should work in JPEG for a few months without a safety net to get to know their camera and learn which settings are best for their style of shooting, before switching to the safety net of Raw."
Israel Smith's work for the Sydney Prince of Wales Children's Hospital Foundation, the fundraising arm of the hospital, involved shooting construction of a new wing. Smith aimed to use the dramatic light of late afternoon to shoot the site. Nikon D3, 24mm, 1/640s @ f/8, ISO 800.
