A Change of Name Heralds a New Direction for Photo Non-Profit

2 minute read

Nancy Farese believes in the power of a single image to impact social change. So much so that six years ago, the photographer created the organization PhotoPhilanthropy and the Activist Awards to promote photographers working for non-profits in the hopes of raising awareness to important issues of our time.

Since 2009, however, the industry has undergone radical change, and the traditional path for photographers to fund and distribute their stories has been severely disrupted with fewer editorial assignments available and greater competition in an ever-expanding field.

Recognizing that photography has entered a new era, PhotoPhilanthropy is operating its own transformation, relaunching under a new name: Catchlight, and with a broader mission, the organization tells TIME.

In announcing this year’s winners of the Activist Awards, Catchlight’s managing director Shoka Javadiangilani says that “the awards were one way to start the conversation with the photographers but now the intention is to empower [them]. It’s all about creative collaboration.”

The organization will be seeking out not only new approaches to visual storytelling, but will also be looking for “new partnerships, new models for distribution and new audiences,” says Javadiangilani. Catchlight sees itself as a connector – providing a nexus where fresh ideas and experimental approaches around visual storytelling can take place with the goal of affecting change. “Stories are what matter to us and to the photographers and that is the starting point,” says Javadiangilani.

As for the Activist Awards, this year the professional prize of $15,000 went to Asa Sjostrom for her story, The Secret Camps, which documents women and children suffering from domestic abuse and seeking a brief refuge in rural Sweden.

The $5,000 emerging award went to Indian photographer Amirtharaj Stephen for his work, Koodankulam:A Nuclear Plant in My Backyard, covering the uprising of a local community against the building of a joint Indian and Russian nuclear power plant, months after the Japan’s nuclear disaster in Fukushima.

Alice Gabriner is TIME’s International Photo Editor and was a judge in this year’s Activist Awards.

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Winner of the Activist Awards' Professional PrizeA young girl at a secret yearly summer camp held for women and children who have been subject to domestic and honor violence in Sweden.Åsa Sjöström—Moment/Institute
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While the camp last only three days, the impression it leaves on its attendees is significant.Åsa Sjöström—Moment/Institute
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Children play and smile, some take a bath in the lake for the first time and mothers and children can do things together without being scared of what might happen to them.Åsa Sjöström—Moment/Institute
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A young girl at a secret yearly summer camp held for women and children who have been subject to domestic and honor violence in Sweden.Åsa Sjöström—Moment/Institute
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A young girl at a secret yearly summer camp held for women and children who have been subject to domestic and honor violence in Sweden.Åsa Sjöström—Moment/Institute
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A young girl at a secret yearly summer camp held for women and children who have been subject to domestic and honor violence in Sweden.Åsa Sjöström—Moment/Institute
Koodankulam: A Nuclear Plant In My Backyard
Winner of the Activist Awards' Emerging PrizeAn Indian Coast Guard plane flies too low over the protesting villagers, who have ventured into the sea as a part of their Jal Satyagraha.Amirtharaj Stephen
Koodankulam: A Nuclear Plant In My Backyard
Villagers from Koothankuli, prevented from going to Idinthakarai by the imposition of a curfew, gather in front of the church and shout anti-government slogans.Amirtharaj Stephen
Koodankulam: A Nuclear Plant In My Backyard
Children from Idinthakarai with the post cards they have written to the Russian Ambassador, requesting Russia stop providing technical support to the nuclear project on Hiroshima Day, 2012.Amirtharaj Stephen
Koodankulam: A Nuclear Plant In My Backyard
Idinthakarai villagers and their children sleep on the seashore near Koodankulam Nuclear Power Plant, protesting the commissioning of the plant.Amirtharaj Stephen
Koodankulam: A Nuclear Plant In My Backyard
Police forces assemble in front of the KNPP, preparing to go on rounds in Koodankulam village after the imposition of a curfew.Amirtharaj Stephen
Koodankulam: A Nuclear Plant In My Backyard
Xavieramma, a resident of Idinthakarai, cries out for help after being chased into the sea with no place to run. She is later both helped and arrested by security forces, and is subsequently charged with 16 offenses including the serious charges of sedition and waging war against the nation.Amirtharaj Stephen

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