Last week, Duckrabbit posted on A Developing story:

Journalists in developing countries are often very poorly paid. Many of them have second jobs. Photojournalists especially struggle because of the cost of equipment. Up until recently many NGO’s and the western media have ignored local photographers, spending a lot of money on sending their own photographers to shoot stories. The end result is that many local photojournalists just can’t make enough to survive and either hang up their camera or try to make a living in another field of photography (like fashion). That’s disastrous for democracy because it means there is no local talent turning the lens on corruption and human rights abuses.

I once wrote to the photo editor of a very large international NGO that I greatly admire. I wanted to know why they never used local photographers in Africa and I got the rather disappointing reply that it was because:

1. They didn’t know any

2. That local photographers might not be able to deliver exactly what the NGO wants

Of course they won’t be able to deliver if they never get any commissions, which means they don’t have any money, which means they are never able to develop their talents. Its a vicious circle.

I responded in the comments section, and this is something I’m still thinking about.

Part of the problem here is how NGOs think about photography. Many of them think of it not as something that should happen regularly to document changes, continuity, or community, but something they want to spend a wad of cash on once or twice a year and use in big PR campaigns. The latter model necessitates an international photographer to produce the kind of slick images – often on a very very tight time line where there’s no room for a learning curve – that the NGO wants. I think if NGOs used media more regularly, took photos, say, once a week, rather than once a year, they’d be able to give local photojournalists the kind of practice and experience they need to eventually take the slick photos. And they’d have surprising and wonderful results that are serendipitous in addition to the kind of images you need a skilled photographer to make.

Meanwhile, last week I trained a handful of local photographers with the support of UNICEF.

Going into this, I knew that there won’t be many opportunities for these guys to make a lot of money off of their photography anytime soon. A bit of training can help a lot, but without the fancy equipment or know how to get NGO contracts, most people won’t be knocking at their door. I hope that they can make better images for the newspapers they work for. There’s a local market that’s eager for images too – there aren’t a lot of postcards in Liberia, local magazines always need images, and businesses need product shots.

This is Bill E. Diggs. He did more with a point and shoot camera than I’ve seen lots of people do with a dSLR. He wants to do more – practice more, use different equipment, work more. But, he’s still going to college while already freelancing at a local paper. Like so many people in Liberia, he’s just gettin’ by.

This is a photo Bill took during the workshop. It’s pretty great, I think, and shows that Bill has a lot of potential. Later today, I’ll be teaching another workshop through UNICEF – this one for kids. Bill’s going to help me out and try out playing with UNICEF’s dSLR. I’m excited to see what kind of images he’ll make – and the kids too. Stay tuned.