{"id":4101,"date":"2017-12-19T22:49:55","date_gmt":"2017-12-19T21:49:55","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/amdf-centre.org\/?p=4101"},"modified":"2026-07-05T20:06:03","modified_gmt":"2026-07-05T19:06:03","slug":"perspectives-in-photojournalism-how-to-encourage-diversity","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/amdf-centre.org\/2017\/12\/19\/perspectives-in-photojournalism-how-to-encourage-diversity\/","title":{"rendered":"Perspectives in photojournalism: How to Encourage Diversity"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Clothilde Goujard<\/a><\/p>\n

In the first installment of our six-part series on photojournalism, we look at the challenges of building a more diverse photojournalism climate \u2014 and highlight some organizations working to change that.<\/em><\/p>\n

Pauline Eiferman<\/a>, a photo editor at Roads & Kingdoms<\/a>, had long thought she was doing a good job assigning diverse photojournalists for her media organization\u2019s stories.<\/p>\n

But then, she decided to actually take a moment and look at all the photographers to whom she\u2019d given assignments during that month.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen I saw those numbers, I thought \u2018OK, I need to be way more proactive,\u2019\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

She realized that because she was not thinking enough about the issue and spending extra time finding new and different photographers, she was simply assigning the same photographers \u2014 who tended to be mostly male from Western countries.<\/p>\n

A 2016 World Press Photo report<\/a> on news photographers found in their survey of 1,991 photojournalists that nearly 65 percent of the 1,991 photojournalists surveyed came \u00a0from Europe and North America. Only 15 percent were women.<\/p>\n

The issue is well known in the industry. Initiatives such as databases, mentoring or fellowships for diverse photographers have been trying to remedy the situation.<\/p>\n

But Eiferman believes photo editors should be part of the solution by making active efforts to assign and hire photojournalists who may not always be part of their network or may not have already been widely published.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you don’t pay attention, you are going to end up only publishing male photographers, it just kind of happens if you’re not proactive,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

And these efforts require extra work, she warned.<\/p>\n

\u201cSometimes I search for a photographer for hours before I can find someone who’s not going to be a white guy that I fly in from America,\u201d she said. \u201cOnce I do find someone that I’m satisfied with, it feels great, because I know that I can count on them to tell that story in the way that I want it to be told.\u201d<\/p>\n

In general, Eiferman said she gets more pitches from men photographers and is now careful about the gender and nationality of the person pitching to her.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo many stories are pitched by an American, or an Italian, or an English photographer who’s spending a couple of weeks in a country \u2014 which is totally fine \u2014 but if I’m able to find someone who knows the story better and who’s really deeply rooted in that community, then that’s definitely a plus,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

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pauline eifferman.jpeg<\/a><\/h2>\n
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Eiferman is encouraged by initiatives and tools that help translate her wish for more diversity in her assignments to reality. She said she uses Women Photograph<\/a>, an online database of international women photographers, \u201calmost every day\u201d to assign stories.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think it\u2019s so valuable to be able to say \u2018OK, there\u2019s a problem and here are the tools we can use to fix it,\u2019\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Although she said there is a lot of work to be done, she is optimistic and hopes major photojournalism festivals and publications will work on showcasing more work from diverse journalists in the future.<\/p>\n

\u201cI hope I can also contribute to make [the industry] a little bit more diverse and to help photographers who don\u2019t necessarily pitch big publications because right now it doesn\u2019t look like there\u2019s space for them,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

If you are a photo editor and are trying to find new and different photojournalists, here are some initiatives that can help you finding them:<\/p>\n

The African Photojournalism Database<\/a><\/strong> is a joint project of the World Press Photo Foundation<\/a> and Everyday Africa<\/a>, launched in August 2016. Each member is a photojournalist based in one of Africa\u2019s 55 countries. They also must have a website, Instagram or Facebook page with recent work.<\/p>\n

Diversify<\/a><\/strong> is a database of photojournalists of color. Created by photographers Brent Lewis and Andre Wise, the site was \u201cborn out of a recognition that calling for more diversity in the photo industry is not enough,\u2019 Photographers can be found based on their ethnicity, languages spoken and area of expertise. The initiative is sponsored by Visura<\/a>, a professional network for photo and film industry.<\/p>\n

Women Photograph<\/a><\/strong> was started in 2017 by photographer Daniella Zalcman. The database includes more than 500 independent women and gender non-conforming photo and video journalists based in 87 countries.<\/p>\n

Majority World<\/a><\/strong> is an agency with offices in Sri Lanka and the United Kingdom founded by Bangladeshi photographer Shahidul Alam and British organizational consultant Colin Hastings. Its members include photographers from Asia, Africa, Latin America and the Middle East.<\/p>\n

Native Agency<\/a><\/strong> is a smaller platform for emerging photographers from underrepresented regions and countries, including Nigeria, Kenya, Tunisia, Ecuador, Madagascar, South Africa and Venezuela.