We specialise in using photography, video and text to co-produce meaningful narratives about humanitarian and environmental issues.
Our award-winning work has led to positive impact in the communities that we collaborate with, as well as informing national level policy and providing advocacy materials for international environmental and human rights reports. Through these projects we’ve amassed specialist expertise in designing and facilitating creative processes that explore the roots of issues that impact communities.
Ethics are at the heart of our process. We are acutely aware of the entrenched geopolitical power relationships in the NGO/Development sector, especially when working in the global south. Over time we have adapted our approach to ensure that we are acknowledging this power relationship, and take action to ensure that we are representing the people we work with in a fair and ethical way. As part of this active approach we have conducted academic research into socially engaged methods.
Although we work with a range of organisations and donors, our interest is primarily in the people and communities we collaborate with. We undertake commissions for a range of organisations from ECHO, UNICEF and the WFP to smaller peace-building and community development focused organisations.
Founded in 2008 we have over 15 years experience working in the field including:
Rwanda, Morocco, Burundi, South Sudan, Sierra Leone, Mali, Togo, DRC, Kenya, China & Bangladesh.
OUR CLIENTS AND PARTNERS:
What our clients and partners say about us:
“Tom has the ability to really put himself in his clients shoes and has produced fantastic pictures that exceeded what we had in mind when we hired him. Working with Tom is an enjoyable experience, he is flexible and adaptable, even in difficult and sometimes chaotic contexts and has the ability to make the people he photographs feel comfortable. This makes his pictures very personal and meaningful.”
Bonny Wilkinson – Vétérinaires Sans Frontières Suisse.
“We are working with Tom on a participatory photography project Saferworld are running in South Sudan and Bangladesh… ..we have really valued his expertise and professional manner. He worked with us to plan the launch of the project then came with us to the two countries to conduct training sessions for participants, the lessons were incredibly well aimed for the audience with a strong balance of interactive sessions and learning.”
Elizabeth Bourne – Saferworld
THE TEAM:
We work with a flexible team of professionals that bring together expertise in socially engaged practice, research, writing, photography and video. The core team is made up of Tom & Emily:
Tom Martin:
Tom is a photographer, participatory research practitioner, and educator who specialises in creating meaningful narratives around humanitarian and environmental issues through photography, video, and written storytelling.
Tom has led a range of award-winning international research projects that have influenced policy at a national level. His work is grounded in collaboration with marginalised communities in post-conflict settings and regions affected by climate change, including Rwanda, South Sudan, Sierra Leone, Bangladesh, Burundi, and Morocco.
As a photographer, Tom’s work has been published in outlets ranging from The Economist and The Independent to Italian Vogue and The Lancet. His exhibitions include solo shows in Westminster and Rwanda, as well as selection for the prestigious Taylor Wessing Photographic Portrait Prize at the National Portrait Gallery, London.
Tom teaches photography at the University of Lincoln, where he designs and delivers undergraduate and postgraduate teaching, including practical workshops and critical theory modules. Alongside this role, he delivers training on visual research methods at University College London and serves as an External Examiner at Teesside University.
Tom is a founding member of the ‘UNESCO Chair on Arts-based Methods for Peacebuilding with and for Children and Young People’ based at the university of Lincoln, contributing to the development of creative and participatory approaches to research, education, and social change.
Tom also reviews research ethics applications across a range of disciplines, with particular expertise in participatory and community-based research methodologies, including Participatory Action Research.
Emily:
Emily is a person-centred psychotherapist working for NHS Nottinghamshire Talking Therapies, also involved in participatory research projects. Recently published in T&F journal Person-Centred Experiential Psychotherapies and Asylum Magazine.
Previously an experienced copywriter and editor specialising in post-conflict recovery and post-traumatic growth, working in the UK and Rwanda. Previous projects include working with the Government of Rwanda on the 20th Commemoration of the 1994 genocide against the Tutsi.
