Can photography be altruistic, and contribute to the greater good?

[Alan Edward Klein]

Yes. I agree. If I may, and since this a photography forum, let me share my thoughts with an image I took yesterday.
Peace Bell. Oak Ridge Tennessee.
Thanks for chiming in.
Kind regards A.

Nice shot. Here's the Arizona taken from the ferry approach. ing. The round thing to the right, sticking out of the water is one of the three 16" gun turrets without the guns. The memorial was built right on top of the still sunken ship.

 

[IpseLux]

Nice shot. Here's the Arizona taken from the ferry approach. ing. The round thing to the right, sticking out of the water is one of the three 16" gun turrets without the guns. The memorial was built right on top of the still sunken ship.

View attachment 424429

Yes. I’ve been there. It’s quite a profoundly moving place. Oahu is quite beautiful. As are the Hawaiian people.
Beautiful image. Thanks for sharing it with me and others.
Kind regards.

 

[Philippe-Georges]

Photography is a kind of tool one can use for conviviality, just like music or literature is.

Since I am retired, I use my 40 years of experience as a professional photographer to support some citizen’s non profit initiatives in my neighbourhood.
Actually, these projects are launched to compensate ware the (local-) government is failing, mostly due to narrow budgets caused by sad ‘incidents’ in the past.
As an example, I made the photographs for a book about the history of the vast Saint-Bavo's abby ruins here in the neighbourhood.

This initiative was begun by a few retired academics living in the area and feeling the lack of a good, somewhat more ‘accessible’, publication about this historical cultural monument, which could be read and understood by people not having a profound notice of history but still are interested in this matter.

As I made quite a lot of colour and B&W photos, more than needed for the book, they decided to publish, next to the book, a small cahier (B5 format) consisting 20 pages and 15 of these B&W photographs, and sell it at a reasonable price (€8.-) just to fund the project.

Shot with Hasselblad 500C/M and SWC, and SilvestriSLV 6x9 on Hp5+

 

[Mike Bates]

Who are photographers you admire, who do this?

The professional photographers who volunteer for Now I Lay Me Down To Sleep have my highest level of respect and admiration.

If you haven't heard of this organization, here is the history from their about page:

Maddux Achilles Haggard was born on February 4, 2005, with a condition called myotubular myopathy, which prevented him from breathing, swallowing, or moving on his own. The following six days, his parents Mike and Cheryl Haggard sat by his side with questions that had no answers.​

​

Cheryl tried to create memories of their time together using her own camera. In reviewing the pictures she captured, Cheryl said, “I saw our tear-stained cheeks, our red swollen eyes, our forced smiles, and the fear in our faces as we looked into the camera.”​

​

On the sixth day of Maddux’s young life, his parents made the excruciating decision to remove him from life support. Before they removed life support, Cheryl knew she wanted professional images of Maddux that she could hang on her wall alongside the portraits of her other children.​

​

“Maddux deserved that space on our wall. I could not comfortably hang the pictures I had taken. The color images bring back the reality of that day. I wanted heirloom portraits as a way to remember and honor our son,” said Cheryl.​

​

It was then Mike called photographer Sandy Puc’ to take black and white portraits of them cradling their son.​

​

Those tender photographs documenting Maddux’s eternal connection with his parents inspired Cheryl Haggard and Sandy Puc’ to create Now I Lay Me Down to Sleep in 2005 as a nonprofit organization. NILMDTS exists to give bereaved families the gift of professional heirloom portraits to bring healing and comfort.​

From another part of their about page (emphasis mine):

Since 2005, Now I Lay Me Down to Sleep (NILMDTS) has gifted more than 80,000 complimentary portrait sessions (nearly 9,000 in the last two years) to families experiencing the loss of a baby. Through our volunteer photographers, NILMDTS has reached every state in the United States and has been present in 40 countries worldwide.​

​

The NILMDTS Medical Affiliate Program is nationally accredited and available to medical professionals worldwide. We currently have thousands of trained providers in every US state and Canadian province, as well as 20 foreign countries and military bases worldwide. This accreditation underscores our commitment to providing high-quality training and resources to healthcare professionals, ensuring that they are equipped with the knowledge and skills to support families in their time of need.​

​

The ongoing support for the pregnancy and infant loss community from NILMDTS has brought together a reach of more than one million on social media and over 40,000 NILMDTS email subscribers.​

I'd say they're doing altruistic work.

 

[IpseLux]

The professional photographers who volunteer for Now I Lay Me Down To Sleep have my highest level of respect and admiration.

If you haven't heard of this organization, here is the history from their about page:

Maddux Achilles Haggard was born on February 4, 2005, with a condition called myotubular myopathy, which prevented him from breathing, swallowing, or moving on his own. The following six days, his parents Mike and Cheryl Haggard sat by his side with questions that had no answers.​

​

Cheryl tried to create memories of their time together using her own camera. In reviewing the pictures she captured, Cheryl said, “I saw our tear-stained cheeks, our red swollen eyes, our forced smiles, and the fear in our faces as we looked into the camera.”​

​

On the sixth day of Maddux’s young life, his parents made the excruciating decision to remove him from life support. Before they removed life support, Cheryl knew she wanted professional images of Maddux that she could hang on her wall alongside the portraits of her other children.​

​

“Maddux deserved that space on our wall. I could not comfortably hang the pictures I had taken. The color images bring back the reality of that day. I wanted heirloom portraits as a way to remember and honor our son,” said Cheryl.​

​

It was then Mike called photographer Sandy Puc’ to take black and white portraits of them cradling their son.​

​

Those tender photographs documenting Maddux’s eternal connection with his parents inspired Cheryl Haggard and Sandy Puc’ to create Now I Lay Me Down to Sleep in 2005 as a nonprofit organization. NILMDTS exists to give bereaved families the gift of professional heirloom portraits to bring healing and comfort.​

From another part of their about page (emphasis mine):

Since 2005, Now I Lay Me Down to Sleep (NILMDTS) has gifted more than 80,000 complimentary portrait sessions (nearly 9,000 in the last two years) to families experiencing the loss of a baby. Through our volunteer photographers, NILMDTS has reached every state in the United States and has been present in 40 countries worldwide.​

​

The NILMDTS Medical Affiliate Program is nationally accredited and available to medical professionals worldwide. We currently have thousands of trained providers in every US state and Canadian province, as well as 20 foreign countries and military bases worldwide. This accreditation underscores our commitment to providing high-quality training and resources to healthcare professionals, ensuring that they are equipped with the knowledge and skills to support families in their time of need.​

​

The ongoing support for the pregnancy and infant loss community from NILMDTS has brought together a reach of more than one million on social media and over 40,000 NILMDTS email subscribers.​

I'd say they're doing altruistic work.

Absolutely. I consider it more that that. In my personal religious view, as a Buddhist, no good act is ever wasted. All good brings forth good to ourselves and to others.
Good photographs most defined do. And I don’t mean technical and perfect images. But images brought forth from good intent.
Thanks for posting this.
Kind regards M.