My clients are usually managers with a responsibility for communications and engagement within the companies and organisations they work for.
Sustainability Communications Managers for organisations that require authentic photography to document sustainability initiatives and progress.
Industry professionals in Health & Safety, communication or people roles (sectors include energy, infrastructure, farming, construction) who use photography to change behaviour and communicate new initiatives.
Charity workers in supporter engagement roles who use photography to raise awareness of the charity’s cause and document the impact of their work.
My clients understand the power and influence of documentary photography and value a photographer with experience who understands the strategic objectives they want to achieve.
Whether it is for internal communication, project updates, change management, stakeholder engagement or social history, I have spent the past 25 years creating stories for global brands, charities and the public sector. Read here where I talk more about the importance of visual communication strategies.
If you want to achieve natural looking photographs that are created in the documentary style, then I can help.
My clients usually need to educate, inform, influence, or celebrate their work. They choose me because I understand their objectives, I can propose the right solution, and I can deliver what they need within their budget. (Find out more about my approach to projects and pricing further down this page).
You can find out more about me here.
I shoot everything in colour. Some clients want colour images converted to black and white, others want the option of both. Personally, I prefer black and white photography and you can hear me talking about why in a podcast here. – there are many examples both colour and black and white in the blog.
Most of the work that I do falls broadly into three core categories:
One of the many ways that companies improve lives for their employees is through greater awareness of health and safety – knowledge and behaviours that are completely transferable and can be used at work and at home.
We know that we live in a world where safety regulation increases year-on-year but health and safety is now much more that slips and trips, to day it also also covers mental wellbeing and personal safety.
The challenge for those tasked with changing behaviour and raising awareness has always been how to engage with audiences, particularly when the message is the same but the audience is very different. For example a retail business will include warehouse staff, shop floor staff and head office staff – each audience might require a different approach and channel of communication.
Stories are the best way to change behaviour because we can relate to stories and that is why visual stories with a health & safety theme – whether it’s working with naked flames on a construction site or spotting the signs of depression in colleagues – are far more effective at engaging audiences.
You can read about how photography can be used as an effective business tool here.
Social documentary covers a number of aspects. For charities and public services it is the work they do and the impact that work has on society. This is now also true of businesses who invest in local communities where they operate.
We are all aware that society changes and that change can sometimes bring new challenges, which photography can help to highlight and share with a wider audience. Economic hardship is a typical example of a changing society.
Changes can also be positive, such as the regeneration of an area where the before and after images can highlight the extent of positive change and investment that leads to a better quality of life.
Social documentary can involve long form projects than span months or years but can also be completed in a day or two, depending on the objectives and budgets.
Unlike industrial photography which can be very predictable and therefore relatively simple to photograph, social documentary has to be more fluid and might need to take account of vulnerable people or cultural differences to achieve the objectives.
Read here about a 12 months project for Stonepillow, a homeless charity in the south of England.
I create sustainability communications through compelling visual stories.
Capturing and visually documenting Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), Environmental, Social, Governance (ESG), Social Impact and Sustainable Development initiatives is becoming an integral part of business strategy.
Giving back to society and being a good corporate citizen is now a significant part of business-as-usual. Fortune 500 companies spend $20 billion per year on CSR, which is often measured, celebrated and reported on a regular basis. Many of these businesses, who are proud to be contributing to UN Sustainable Development Goals, want to visually document and case study their achievements.
CSR photography, sustainability communications, or social impact photography requires an understanding of the sustainability agenda and the impact that CSR initiatives have on the community and environment. Photography stories are an effective way to capture, document, share and archive the contribution that companies are making to deliver a sustainable world for all; and helps businesses to raise awareness of issues, bringing them to the attention of a wider audience.
You can read more here and here.
Click the image below to download my short guide.
Anything is possible with the right amount of time and budget. However, the reality is there will always be a deadline and a limited budget. So, it all starts with a brief, from which I can propose ideas and fees.
I’ll want to understand your objectives. What do you want to achieve? Why? How will you measure success? It is helpful to know what ideas you already have and if there are brand or style guidelines that need to be adhered to.
There are three phases to every project:
The time required at each phase depends on the overall project. To give you an idea, a typical project that involves one-day of photography is usually between £800-£1,200 incl pre-production planning and post production editing.
The creative process works best if we collaborate. That way I can be sure that I’m giving you what you want, you can be sure that you are getting the best value, and we can both be sure to meet your objectives.
If you have a project in mind, or just want to see more examples of my work, then please get in touch.
Andrew Cameron is social documentary photographer with a particular focus on Sustainability Communications (CSR & ESG) Photography, Industrial Photography, Social Impact and Humanitarian stories. Andrew works with businesses and organisations to create compelling visual stories to support employee communication and stakeholder engagement. Andrew’s light-touch approach uses a natural documentary photography style to create authentic images.
