Cause Beautiful: Hipstamatic Aims to Empower Young People

4 minute read

Mobile photography app Hipstamatic has launched Cause Beautiful, a philanthropic foundation that aims to help inner-city kids use photography to document their own communities.

Led by Luanne Dietz, an Emmy-winning photographer and former staff member at the San Francisco Chronicle, the foundation will act as an extension of the “We Hear You” project, an initiative Dietz launched in 2011. Under her auspices, students are encouraged to partner with local media organizations to tell stories of significance in their own lives.

Dietz’s decision to join Hipstamatic came after she partnered with the San Francisco-based company last fall on one of her W.H.Y. projects. “I thought Hipstamatic would be a very cool way to engage students,” Dietz explains. “I approached them about it and we ended up doing a project together. It worked so well that it just seemed a perfect fit to have me come on board and lead Hipstamatic’s foundation.”

Cause Beautiful’s first projects will take place at the Life Learning Academy in San Francisco and the KDOL’s Media Enterprise Alliance in Oakland, where students will spend one semester using mobile photography to document issues of importance to them and their communities. “There is an emerging generation looking for a way to express itself and get out of the vicious cycle of unattainable dreams in low-income neighborhoods,” Dietz explains. “Their eyes have become their voice, and their voice needs to be heard.”

Initial plans for a foundation were first laid out years before Dietz joined Hipstamatic, when, in late 2011, the app developer was working on the development of a photojournalism-themed pack of digital lenses and films as an in-app purchase, as revealed by the British Journal of Photography (BJP). The idea emerged after Hipstamatic started “noticing all these photographers using [the app] to document things,” said the app’s co-founder, Lucas Allen Buick, three years ago.

Originally, the Foundation’s goal was to educate and support “the next generation of photographic storytellers using smartphones with Hipstamatic to tell and broadcast their tales,” as explained on the company’s Facebook page. But, faced with increased competition from other image-making and image-sharing platforms such as Instagram, Hipstamatic was forced to scrap its plans in August 2012, when it ran into financial troubles and laid off part of its staff. In recent months, however, Hipstamatic has launched two new apps—Oggl and Cinamatic—and revived its plans, albeit in a different form, for its foundation.

“Hipstamatic created a foundation a few years ago, but they never had anyone to run it,” says Dietz. “It’s always been [part of their mission] to be able to offer grants to photographers. So when I came in with a vision and [a successful] project that had an impact on students, they asked me to run the foundation.”

After its initial roll-out, Dietz is planning to raise funds to fulfill one of Hipstamatic’s original goals: to finance the work of professional photographers. “Because I was a freelancer and a staff photographer, I know that sometimes the funds aren’t there to be able to finish long-term projects,” she tells TIME. “My goal will be to provide some long-term story grants and mobile grants that will enable photographers to finish those kinds of stories.”

While Dietz can’t say when these grants will be available to photographers, she confirms that they won’t be limited to Hipstamatic users. “The goal is to empower photography. Period. Our goal is to see what [photographers’] needs are, see what they are missing and how they could benefit from us. We want to empower them to tell stories that can bring change.”

Photographers interested in applying for a future Cause Beautiful grant will be able to register their interest on the foundation’s website.


Follow the Cause Beautiful Foundation by Hipstamatic on Instagram (@causebeautiful) where photographers such as Melissa Lyttle of the Tampa Bay Times will share their images over the coming weeks.

Olivier Laurent is the editor of TIME LightBox. Follow him on Twitter and Instagram @olivierclaurent


Ar'Juan Mason, 17.SwagSwag is alive because people care about the way they look. They care because looking nice is a part of everyday society. without personal style everyone would wear the same thing as each other.
Ar'Juan Mason, 17: "Swag is alive because people care about the way they look. They care because looking nice is a part of everyday society. without personal style everyone would wear the same thing as each other."The W.H.Y. Project
Demond Norma, 18.TransitionThese images show a new me. Transitioning for me was a challenge because I thought I would never change the way I live. It was actually one of the hardest things IÕve accomplished because I couldnÕt ask nobody for help. Everything was up to me.
In the following images, W.H.Y. Project participants discuss what they've photographed. Demond Norma, 18: "These images show a new me. Transitioning for me was a challenge because I thought I would never change the way I live. It was actually one of the hardest things I've accomplished because I couldn't ask nobody for help. Everything was up to me."The W.H.Y. Project
Justice Valentine, 17.AcceptanceNot being accepted affects people more than you think. To be accepted is to feel comfortable in your environment and your surroundings, to feel like you don't have to act different by changing your appearance or the emotion you show in public. I feel like I have to prove constantly that IÕm not this monster.
Justice Valentine, 17: "Not being accepted affects people more than you think. To be accepted is to feel comfortable in your environment and your surroundings, to feel like you don't have to act different by changing your appearance or the emotion you show in public. I feel like I have to prove constantly that I'm not this monster."The W.H.Y. Project
Ar'Juan Mason, 17.SwagSwag is the way you present and carry yourself. I guess you can say my generation is more of the flashy type. Where I grew up and live now a lot of people around are all about shoes, it comes off almost mandatory to have the most recent shoes or something better.
Ar'Juan Mason, 17: "Swag is the way you present and carry yourself. I guess you can say my generation is more of the flashy type. Where I grew up and live now a lot of people around are all about shoes, it comes off almost mandatory to have the most recent shoes or something better."The W.H.Y. Project
Danna Laynas, 16. BeautyWhen anything makes me feel something whether it be sad, happy, or another emotion. It could be anything, really, as long as I get that feeling of inspiration. ItÕs sort of like a rush of excitement. ItÕs not the actual photo, its the feeling I feel before I take the photo.
Danna Laynas, 16: "When anything makes me feel something whether it be sad, happy, or another emotion. It could be anything, really, as long as I get that feeling of inspiration. It's sort of like a rush of excitement. It's not the actual photo, its the feeling I feel before I take the photo."The W.H.Y. Project
Danna Laynas, 16. I get all happy and excited, hoping I can capture this the way that IÕm looking at it right now. ItÕs really quick. I just feel it. Sometimes I miss the opportunity to take the picture. It just passes. When I donÕt capture it, I get frustrated.
Danna Laynas, 16: "I get all happy and excited, hoping I can capture this the way that I'm looking at it right now. It's really quick. I just feel it. Sometimes I miss the opportunity to take the picture. It just passes. When I don't capture it, I get frustrated."The W.H.Y. Project

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