NGO's - How hard is it?

[Bob Michaels]

Non-governmental organization, or NGO, is a legally constituted organization created by natural or legal persons that operates independently from any government. The term originated from the United Nations (UN), and is normally used to refer to organisations that do not form part of the government and are not conventional for-profit business. In the cases in which NGOs are funded totally or partially by governments, the NGO maintains its non-governmental status by excluding government representatives from membership in the organization. The term is usually applied only to organizations that pursue some wider social aim that has political aspects, but that are not overtly political organizations such as political parties. Unlike the term "intergovernmental organization", the term "non-governmental organization" has no generally agreed legal definition. In many jurisdictions, these types of organization are called "civil society organizations" or referred to by other names.

No, Bob, I respect you more than that...just unhelpful. By that I mean that I am willing to enter a discussion at a point where someone can just answer the question in far fewer words than the past several posts telling to google or go to a link.

Since when do we tell long standing members to just google or go here or go there? A sentence would suffice. I prefer a discourse with real people. I could use google for 90% of the questions I post on RFF, but then that would not be helpful with interaction with other members.

Pardon me if I don't know the abbreviations about NGO like some here seem to think I should or find it myself as I am not worthy of entering this discussion.

So, with that I have my answer. I am out of here.

 

[Roger Hicks]

Not exactly an NGO, for a given example of 'government', but close...

I've done a modest amount of work for the Tibetan Government in Exile, to the extent of their sometimes providing food, accommodation, car with driver and even on one occasion airline tickets-- but they knew me first. I'd already done a fair amount for the Tibetan cause (biography of HH Dalai Lama, several favourable articles, pictures in books...)

To paraphrase what they told me, the first time a photographer comes to Dharamsala, they are polite but wary: they see too many wannabees. The second time, they begin they suspect that you may be serious. The third time, they are willing to consider you.

The important thing here is that the Tibetan cause is something about which I care very deeply indeed. I'd not want to put up with the same sort of thing for anything I didn't care about, or for people I didn't know: such things as sleeping on a schoolroom floor in the Himalayas; waking up with one eye swollen closed from mosquito bites in the south of India; government accommodation with no running water...

Of course it's all very romantic, and you get some incredible privileges, seeing things that hardly anyone else sees. And often, the accommodation ain't too bad: I was lent HH Dalai Lama's room in a temple in Tso.Pema. But there's a lot of rough with the smooth.

Cheers,

R.

 

[Dunn]

Do you know where you want to go geographically? What fields are you interested in photographing (all that you would consider)?

Just remember there are lots of PJs struggling to make ends meet so expect to have to organise this with few inside leads...

I really have an interest in working in Mexico or South America. Or also the middle east and Asia, especially India.

I would consider most anything related to human rights. I would be particularly passionate about organizations that focus on food issues or displacement or migration. But I really can get focused on any subject if I am exposed to it. Once I start learning about different areas, I get fixated for a while and want to really get in deep.

I just really want to get in the places to get in depth stories.

I would even want to do a project in Mexico about the drug crimes and such that have been going on, but that might actually be too dangerous.

Not exactly an NGO, for a given example of 'government', but close...

I've done a modest amount of work for the Tibetan Government in Exile, to the extent of their sometimes providing food, accommodation, car with driver and even on one occasion airline tickets-- but they knew me first. I'd already done a fair amount for the Tibetan cause (biography of HH Dalai Lama, several favourable articles, pictures in books...)

To paraphrase what they told me, the first time a photographer comes to Dharamsala, they are polite but wary: they see too many wannabees. The second time, they begin they suspect that you may be serious. The third time, they are willing to consider you.

The important thing here is that the Tibetan cause is something about which I care very deeply indeed. I'd not want to put up with the same sort of thing for anything I didn't care about, or for people I didn't know: such things as sleeping on a schoolroom floor in the Himalayas; waking up with one eye swollen closed from mosquito bites in the south of India; government accommodation with no running water...

Of course it's all very romantic, and you get some incredible privileges, seeing things that hardly anyone else sees. And often, the accommodation ain't too bad: I was lent HH Dalai Lama's room in a temple in Tso.Pema. But there's a lot of rough with the smooth.

Cheers,

R.

I definitely understand needing a passion for your subject or area. It definitely makes it easier to put yourself after someone else.

I really think it could be something I would be willing to do, even the rough stuff.

 

[Dunn]

indeed, anybody who hasn't seen that work should be making it a priority. brilliant stuff (and i'm quite scroogy with the compliments).

the NGO route can be good for on the ground help where you are going. some countries have very strict visa rules and getting in without help from an NGO might prove daunting. they can also prove very helpful when one doesn't wish to carry the moniker 'photojournalist' about.

make sure everyone has a clear understanding of what is expected image wise.

the NGO route is tough, unless you are reasonably established or connected it is not a revenue stream. with that said it can be invaluable in completing that all important first body of work.

Any suggestions on groups to try?

Also, I would like to see Turtle's work from Kabul. Link?

 

[Turtle]

I would seriously consider starting more gently than drug wars 😀

Perhaps what emraphoto/Roger were meaning was not just something you are superficially interested (I take the point you made about exposure and getting down deep) but something you feel particularly passionate and perhaps are knowledgeable about now. This gives you a heck of a head start when it comes to angles you might want to take and will narrow things down.

If I were you I would think about specific issues (within the general topics you mentioned) you are keen to cover and then find out who is working those areas. Start narrow. If things broaden then great, but pursue an identifiable idea first, because when you start speaking to people you will know what to say and they will know you are not looking to come just for your own experience. You can try a couple of clear ideas simultaneously, but I suspect it will be easier than trying to spread yourself too thinly.

How much time do you have and what is your lead time? Start thinking about the obvious vaccinations now if you have not already had them. Most, like Hep A, B, Typhoid etc are generally applicable.

www.thomasstanworth.com

 

[Gabriel M.A.]

Non-Governmental Organization.

Sheesh...

I know. That took longer than Googling it (afaik) didn't it? Some peep'l, I tells ya. ttyl

 

[Roger Hicks]

I would seriously consider starting more gently than drug wars 😀

Perhaps what emraphoto/Roger were meaning was not just something you are superficially interested (I take the point you made about exposure and getting down deep) but something you feel particularly passionate and perhaps are knowledgeable about now. This gives you a heck of a head start when it comes to angles you might want to take and will narrow things down.

If I were you I would think about specific issues (within the general topics you mentioned) you are keen to cover and then find out who is working those areas. Start narrow. If things broaden then great, but pursue an identifiable idea first, because when you start speaking to people you will know what to say and they will know you are not looking to come just for your own experience. You can try a couple of clear ideas simultaneously, but I suspect it will be easier than trying to spread yourself too thinly.

How much time do you have and what is your lead time? Start thinking about the obvious vaccinations now if you have not already had them. Most, like Hep A, B, Typhoid etc are generally applicable.

www.thomasstanworth.com

And, of course, it will be enormously useful in persuading them that they won't have to explain everything to you before you start.

The point is, they know (or can guess) what the photographer will get out of it.. What is less clear is how much good it will do them. It's a bit of a Catch-22: before they are likely to take you on, they need to know that you can do the kind of work that you are trying to get in to doing...

Quite honestly, they can afford to pick and choose.. In fact, they cannot afford not to pick and choose. They don't know you (or any other volunteer) from Adam. You might be a liability, a nuisance, a total incompetent. Or a paedophile. In the place of the NGO, would you take those risks with someone you'd never met?

Start out VERY small. My first voluntary photography, around 35 years ago, was for my local Greenpeace and for CycleBAG (Cycle Bristol Action Group). Starting small teaches you a lot about how to deal with people, both those commissioning the pics and your subjects.

Cheers,

R.

 

[furcafe]

If you haven't already, you might want to post your query on Lightstalkers (http://www.lightstalkers.org/), as that site is more oriented towards the work you're seeking.

How hard is it to volunteer or work with an NGO as far as photography?

Has anyone ever done it?

I have a read a little, but there doesn't seem to be much about it.

I feel like it would be a good way get experience in the field, but a few things I have read seem to be mixed.

What do you guys think? I mainly want to know if you already have to be a semi-recognized photographer or what.

 

[Roger Hicks]

I guess it's easier to get started if you get started doing something other than photojournalism in the country where you want to go.

If you want to work with a big NGO (the likes of Human Rights Watch) you'll have a hard time getting in. Basically they're run like companies and are swamped with volunteers, so you have to have something speaking for you - experience in the country, knowledge of languages, a good education, whatever. Without that it's going to be very difficult.

But working with small NGOs isn't that easy either because you'll need to be building a lot of trust. If you go to a country and turn up at NGO offices with your camera with no profile and no references and no examples of your work, then indeed they won't know you from Adam. On the other hand, for example, you turn up there and work for three months drilling wells or teaching English, and at the same time take pictures all the time and get to know people and get them to know you, you'll have a much better chance of getting a foot in the door.

This is especially true if it's your first time abroad for a longer period of time in a third world country. There are adventurer types who just go around the world on a shoestring and hang around in far-off places for months - but firstly that kind of talent or mindset is rather rare, and secondly when you meet them in the country they're usually not the most agreeable or confidence-inspiring bunch from the perspective of a local, few of them speak the languages of where they are, and they also tend to get a rather one-sided view of where they are (namely, the backpackers' view). It's probably possible to start out that way, but if you start out doing some real and concrete work in the country of your destination, rather than backpacking around, it's definitely easier, more straightforward, and probably more rewarding for everybody else, first and foremost your partners in the NGO.

Also, and I repeat myself here, learning languages is really important. It's a good way to build confidence and to show people that you have an interest in them, and it's pretty much the only way to get at the good stories.

Highlight 1: Or, indeed. shooting pictures on your own nickel (or better still, a publisher's nickel). But I totally agree: being there, and making yourself known, is essential.

Highlight 2: Depends to some extent on the language, and what you're doing. In India, all schools are obliged to teach in either Hindi or English, and most use English. I know very few Tibetans who don't speak English as well as Tibetan and many speak at least one other language: Hindi, Kanada, German...

Cheers,

R.

 

[rxmd]

("Learning languages is really important")

Highlight 2: Depends to some extent on the language, and what you're doing. In India, all schools are obliged to teach in either Hindi or English, and most use English. I know very few Tibetans who don't speak English as well as Tibetan and many speak at least one other language: Hindi, Kanada, German...

Well, I think you'll agree that it would be a bit of a stretch to take the Tibetan refugees (with their access to a comparatively good education system and encouragement to make good use of it) as a basis to conclude that it might not be all that necessary to learn languages because, after all, the others have been learning yours 😀

India of course offers the obvious advantage of every colony that you can get along to some extent in the language of the former colonial power. So, have people learn Spanish, maybe French for West Africa, or Russian for the whole post-Soviet space, or Arabic for the Middle East. Or Chinese. Not all of them, just one or two. For a journalist, each of those is going to be tremendously useful in the long run.

It's not like I'm proposing that every aspiring photojournalist should think seriously about learning Pitjantjatjara or Tibetan or Guaraní. However, I still maintain that languages are important and a major asset in particular when you want to start a career and be taken seriously. I've got more or less all of my jobs over the last ten years because of languages, and on the other hand I've seen too many people hang around trolling for hints to good stories in expat bars and backpacker hostels, where every taxi driver could have told them where the good stories were - if only they could talk to him. If I personally had to choose between two volunteers, one of whom can speak the language and the other can't, it would be an easy choice, or at least a big point in the former's favour.

 

[Turtle]

Lots of people use interpreter/fixers for this reason. Unless you are very good at the language of the country you are visiting, they will likely be fairly essential if you are doing anything in depth. In many countries the cost is also not unreasonable, but of course finding someone good is not a given.

I mostly worked with driver/interpreters and out of a pool of about ten that I used over three years I learnt which could help me move things forwards and who had the right soft skills (and which were hand grenades in a crowded room). The good guys really made a difference to the pictures and the experiences I cam away with.

 

[Roger Hicks]

Well, I think you'll agree that it would be a bit of a stretch to take the Tibetan refugees (with their access to a comparatively good education system and encouragement to make good use of it) as a basis to conclude that it might not be all that necessary to learn languages because, after all, the others have been learning yours 😀

India of course offers the obvious advantage of every colony that you can get along to some extent in the language of the former colonial power. So, have people learn Spanish, maybe French for West Africa, or Russian for the whole post-Soviet space, or Arabic for the Middle East. Or Chinese. Not all of them, just one or two. For a journalist, each of those is going to be tremendously useful in the long run.

It's not like I'm proposing that every aspiring photojournalist should think seriously about learning Pitjantjatjara or Tibetan or Guaraní. However, I still maintain that languages are important and a major asset in particular when you want to start a career and be taken seriously. I've got more or less all of my jobs over the last ten years because of languages, and on the other hand I've seen too many people hang around trolling for hints to good stories in expat bars and backpacker hostels, where every taxi driver could have told them where the good stories were - if only they could talk to him. If I personally had to choose between two volunteers, one of whom can speak the language and the other can't, it would be an easy choice, or at least a big point in the former's favour.

Oh, sure: I'd not argue, especially with the highlight. But see also Turtle's post.

Cheers,

R.

 

[scottwallick]

w00t Peace Corps.

I served with a fellow who had worked a staff photog for a Boston paper (Globe or Herald, can't remember). He had a small show once, and had a photo club where he served. He consistently made remarkable images.

Photography wasn't anything to do with his primary assignment, but he made it a cornerstone of his involvement in the community where he served.

 

[rxmd]

Lots of people use interpreter/fixers for this reason. Unless you are very good at the language of the country you are visiting, they will likely be fairly essential if you are doing anything in depth. In many countries the cost is also not unreasonable, but of course finding someone good is not a given.

I mostly worked with driver/interpreters and out of a pool of about ten that I used over three years I learnt which could help me move things forwards and who had the right soft skills (and which were hand grenades in a crowded room). The good guys really made a difference to the pictures and the experiences I cam away with.

There are two problems with this approach.

In the context of this thread, working with fixers and interpreters takes money, which Dunn doesn't have, and is kind of incompatible with the go-there-and-just-start-working approach that Dunn seems to be seeking. From that point of view, it might make sense for him to look in an area where English and/or Spanish are spoken resonably widely.

In a wider viewpoint, the problem is that no matter how good the people, it does restrict you in the kind of things you see and the kinds of questions you can work on. Take Afghanistan, for example. The biggest problem in Afghanistan currently, bigger IMHO than the Taliban and the drug trade, is the complete erosion and destruction of existing Afghan social orders by the massive influx of money - if you're a qualified Afghan, it makes more sense to work for a foreign aid agency than for your own government or institutions, given how much better foreign agencies pay. The authority of institutions erodes because local players appear who have more money and wield more influence than, say, a well-functioning local council would have. There is rampant corruption in NGOs because foreign aid agencies are in a frenzy to spend as much money as they can - in short, establish something that pretends to be an Afghan NGO working, say, on women's rights and it won't be long until someone will give you lots of money with little or no oversight. (I work in one such agency and know the mechanisms a little bit. It makes you worry a lot about what will happen when the foreigners will move out in 2014-15 or so; effectively the money in some areas does more damage than the bombs.) However, it will be very difficult to document something like this when you come to Kabul as a foreigner for a few weeks and rely on interpreters and fixers to organize field trips to good stories for you. It's a pressing issue and one that needs to be documented precisely because it's so unpleasant, but doing that takes a lot of time building trust relationsa and getting to know how the system actually works. And that is going to be significantly more difficult if you have to work through third persons all the time. So the one journalist that one day will come with a little bit of time and does speak Dari or Farsi or Pashto will have a very good and important story on their hands that the others simply won't get to see.