We ought to acknowledge how powerful photography can be. It can move people in different ways. Like the words of a poem or a song, images can have a great impact on people. Indeed, photographers are a talented lot who have a great deal to offer.
Even more, just as photography can be a tool for generating earnings, it can also be an instrument for giving back to the community. Photographers are in a unique position to make a difference in other people’s lives.
Christina Dickson lists five ways to reach the community. Christina is a gifted wedding photographer who takes time out of her busy schedule to inspire people in her own personal way. She shares some advice on how we can inspire people in our own personal way too. Her five suggested ways to reach the community are:
1. Host an art fundraiser
Sponsor an art fundraiser by bringing together artists who may be willing to donate a few pieces to a selected not for profit organisation.
2. Donate a family portrait session
Identify a deserving family who may appreciate a free photography session and complimentary portrait from you.
3. Volunteer to shoot a holiday program
Set aside around four hours of your time to shoot and edit photographs for a holiday program for free.
4. Write a story
Choose a worthy event, interview people about it and create a photo story to inspire others.
5. Hold a workshop
Be an educator. Teach those in your community who might be interested to learn a few pointers from you on photography.
These are Christina’s five suggested ways. Perhaps there are quite a few other ways that could be added to Christina’s list. If it is not too much of a bother, we would like to trouble you with just two more ideas of our own that we might add to Christina’s list of ways:
6. Promote a not for profit organisation
Offer your services for free to a not for profit organisation looking to promote itself or one of its activities.
7. Join a photography contest
We have posted quite a bit of information about ongoing photography competitions on our website. Most of them have worthy causes to which part of the proceeds will go. Joining any one of these competitions will contribute to a worthy cause and in the process give back to the community.
We wonder if it is our place to say what reasons exist why we might want to consider giving back to the community. There must be something about the way we are all built. In our journey in this life, we are all still trying to find ourselves. Strangely enough, it seems to be in losing ourselves in giving that we get to find who and what we truly are and in the process locate our way back to from where it is we all came.











