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Photography
What your charity photos say about the people in them, and how to brief better ones
Many charity photos quietly cast the people you serve as helpless. Five warning signs, what dignity-first photography looks like, and a brief you can copy.
Look at the photographs on your website for a moment. Who is standing, and who is sitting? Who is smiling at the camera, and who is looking down? Whose name is in the caption?
Those choices say something about the people in the pictures. Often it's something nobody at your charity would say out loud.
Most charity photography follows a few familiar patterns: the grateful recipient, the heroic staff member, the close-up of a tearful face. They're used because people believe they work. And they do raise money in the short term. They also cast the people you serve as helpless, which is rarely true and rarely how those people see themselves.
This guide is for charity leaders who approve the pictures. It covers the warning signs, what to do instead, and how to brief a photographer so you get it right first time.
Five signs your photos may be working against you
Suffering without strength. The pictures show the problem but never the person's own effort, skill or humour.
Staff as heroes. Your team are always the ones giving, and the people you support are always receiving.
No context. A face, cropped tight, with nothing to show where they are or why.
Power in the framing. The camera looks down on people, or they're arranged around a visitor.
Pity as the goal. If the brief was "make people feel sorry for them", the pictures will show it.
If some of these sound familiar, you're in good company. Most organisations fall into at least one. They're easy traps.
Why it matters to the people who fund you
Funders and supporters see a lot of charity imagery, and pictures built on pity look like every other appeal.
There's a practical cost as well. A photograph that reduces someone to their worst moment is one they may not want used again. That limits how long you can use it and where. A dignified photograph is one the person is often proud of, which makes it easier to use for years.
The UK international development network Bond publishes detailed guidance on this, Putting the people in the pictures first, updated in 2024. It's written for international charities, but most of it applies to any organisation that photographs the people it serves.
What dignity-first photography looks like
Dignity-first photography still shows hard realities, in a way the person would recognise and agree with.
People doing things. Cooking, teaching, organising, laughing, arguing. Agency is visible.
Eye level. The camera meets people where they are, rather than looking down on them.
Context. The room, the street, the tools, the other people. A life, not a symptom.
Partnership. Staff and the people they support working together, side by side.
Detail when faces can't be shown. Hands, objects and spaces can carry a story when identifying someone would put them at risk.
The cover photograph on this post is from a support group run by the charity I lead, the Naz and Matt Foundation. It shows people supporting each other. Nobody in it is being rescued.
I made the same choice on a larger scale when I directed My God, I'm Queer, our documentary for Channel 4. We deliberately showed queer Muslims living full, joyful lives, not only the trauma they'd been through. It's the most honest version of their stories, and audiences responded to it.
Let people take their own pictures
The most powerful shift is to hand over the camera. When people photograph their own lives, the pictures show things an outside photographer would never see, and the power sits with them.
You don't need a big programme to start. Involve the people you support in planning a shoot. Let them help choose which pictures are used. Ask how they'd like to be captioned. Even small steps change who the pictures belong to.
One thing to know first: whoever takes a photograph usually owns the copyright, so agree how the pictures can be used before you start. I've written about that in who owns the photographs you paid for.
Ask for: the people in the pictures to see and help choose the final selection before anything is published.
How to brief a photographer
Most problems start with the brief. Here's what a good one covers. Copy it, and fill it in before you book anyone.
The story. What should someone understand about your work after seeing these pictures?
Where they'll be used. Funding bids, annual report, website, social media, print. Each needs slightly different pictures.
The people. Who can be photographed, who can't, and who needs extra care. Your safeguarding lead should sign this part off.
Consent. How people will be asked, what they're agreeing to, and how they can change their mind.
What to avoid. Name the patterns you don't want: hero shots of staff, tearful close-ups, posed gratitude.
Who chooses. Who sees the pictures before they're used, including the people in them.
Ask for: a short written brief agreed by your comms lead and safeguarding lead before the photographer arrives.
Six questions to ask a photographer before you book
Can you show us charity work you've done, and tell us how you got consent?
How do you photograph people who can't be identified?
Do you direct people, or let things happen?
How do you make sure the pictures show strength as well as need?
Will the people photographed see the pictures before we use them?
What licence do we get, and for how long?
Where to start this week
Pick the five photographs you use most. For each one, ask: would the person in this picture be proud of how they look here? Retire any you can't answer yes to, and brief your next shoot using the six points above.
If you'd like help, I photograph charity work with consent and dignity planned in from the start. See charity photography.
Questions people ask
Do dignified photographs raise less money?
No. They still carry emotion. The difference is that the emotion comes from connection and hope rather than pity, and the pictures can be used for longer.
What if the people we support can't be shown?
Plan for it. Hands, objects, spaces, silhouettes and pictures taken by the people themselves can all tell the story without identifying anyone.
Is there official guidance on ethical charity imagery?
Yes. Bond's guidance, Putting the people in the pictures first, is a good place to start.
Matt Mahmood-Ogston is a London-based social impact storyteller and documentary photographer. He founded the Naz and Matt Foundation in 2014 and has led it for more than 12 years.
