The Impact Storytelling Collective opens 9 November. Founding members join free.
01
About
Hello, I’m Matt Mahmood-Ogston
I’m a documentary photographer and social impact storyteller based in London. I help charities, funders, and CSR and social impact teams show the change their work makes, in honest photographs and clear stories that build trust, bring in funding and move people to act.
I’ve led a charity for more than 12 years. So I know both sides: what it takes to do the work, and how hard it can be to show it without losing the dignity of the people at the heart of it.
90+
Talks and workshops
200+
Media outlets have covered my work
12+
Years leading a charity
54m
Audience reach of a 2020 World Suicide Prevention Day campaign I led
02
What I do
Three ways I can help
Photography
Documentary photography of your work as it happens: programmes, volunteers, events and the people you serve. Made with consent, and ready for reports, funding bids and campaigns.
Storytelling
Storytelling consultancy and social impact storytelling workshops that help your team find the stories in its work and tell them well, so funders and partners trust what they see.
Speaking
Keynotes and talks on the power of a story told well, grassroots change, parental acceptance and opening hearts and minds.
03
How I got here
From my dad’s camera to Channel 4
I’ve loved photography since I picked up my dad’s camera as a small child in the 1980s. I wasn’t allowed to touch it, which only made me more determined to get one of my own.
As a teenager I studied photography for two years at Bournville College of Arts, where I fell for the work of Henri Cartier-Bresson. I went on to take a BA (Hons) in filmmaking, and later worked as a Director at Magnum Photos, where I learnt from some of the world’s most respected photographers, including Elliott Erwitt, Martin Parr and Peter Marlow. Elliott Erwitt even took my portrait while I was there.
After the tragic death of my fiancé, Naz, in 2014, I founded the Naz and Matt Foundation to help religious and culturally conservative parents accept their LGBTQI+ children. Leading it has taught me what no course could: how to tell real people’s stories with consent and care, and how a story told well can change minds, bring in funding and keep a small charity going.
My first documentary, My God, I’m Queer, was broadcast on Channel 4 and won Best TV Programme at the 2021 Asian Media Awards.
04
How I work
What you can expect
01
Consent comes first
Everyone in a photograph or story knows how it will be used, and can say no. That protects the people you serve, and it protects your organisation.
02
Real moments, not staged ones
I photograph the work as it happens, so the people who see it can believe it.
03
Stories with a job to do
Every photograph and story is planned around what you need it to achieve, whether that’s trust, funding or action.
“We highly recommend Matt for his skill, professionalism, and the thoughtful approach he brings to photography… We are proud to use his photos on a lot of our promotional material.”
Tom Lees, Old Diorama Arts Centre, London
05
More about me
Let’s show what your work changes
Tell me about your organisation and the story you need to tell.