Update #6: Starting some kind of routine
by Aurel Vogel, July 2020
Dear Fairpicture supporters, creators and clients!
It is high time for another update on what we have been up to the last month. The short version: We created a new website with more and better content, we intensified our sales efforts, and we continued to standardize our assignment procedures while coping with the uncertainties of the Corona pandemic.
Increased sales efforts, optimized assignment processes and a new website
The new website
You’ve probably noticed by now that the look and feel of our website fairpicture.org has changed. Over the course of the last weeks, we worked with Hamza and Annus, two developers from Pakistan, to design and text a website that better suits our needs and the interests of our clients and photographers. Besides the new design, three conceptual changes were at the center of the relaunch:
Show don’t tell: Fairpicture has moved from being a theoretical concept to a real provider of visual stories with a network of 40+ visual creators across the globe. With the new website we can show our stories and present the creators of these stories to our supporters and clients.
Easy booking: We believe that the online booking of assignments will increase in the next months. With the new contact form, booking is made easy for our clients and for us.
Technical flexibility: Changes to the new site are easily done and more flexible than before, which allows us to react quickly to changes in our needs and the needs of our clients. Do you have a suggestion or have you found an error on our website? Then contact us and we’ll look into it. We are always grateful for suggestions and comments!
Antonio Pomarino Romero (75) works as a scrapper. For twenty-five years, he has dreamed of having his own concrete house. Thanks to the bonus he received from the Hilti Foundation, he can now monitor the construction progress of his house in Lima, Peru.
©Angela Ponce/Hilti Foundation/Fairpicture
Sales efforts
If there is one truth for startups, it is that a good idea doesn’t sell by itself. Which is why we have invested a lot into sales research and the lead qualification of NGOs and companies in Switzerland, Germany and Austria. Martin especially works tirelessly to find the responsible person of each organization, contacts her or him and explains the mission and services of Fairpicture.
This work has been fruitful. Besides the 20+ assignments already completed or underway, there are several organizations which have expressed interest in working with Fairpicture for their upcoming campaigns and project reports. Are you also interested in working with us or do you know anyone who does? Contact us and we will discuss your needs personally or via phone.
©Angela Ponce/Hilti Foundation/Fairpicture
Assignment processes
From January to May 2020, we conducted three test assignments. In the two months since, we have had 15 assignments completed or underway. This increase in assignments has brought us a steep learning curve and helps (and sometimes forces us) to standardize our daily business. To give an example, we have changed our internal quality control and editing process and have introduced a more standardized approach. Thisway, we will be able to hand over the editing process to people in our network of the Global South instead of keeping it insourced in the North. Learn how we work.
Final notes
On the assignment front, our visual creators have documented projects in India, Philippines and several locations in Bangladesh. Check out our new stories page for a selection of visual stories.
The Corona pandemic has also affected our work. As mentioned in the last blog post, working under these new circumstances brings along a lot of uncertainty and risk for the photographers as well as for Fairpicture. Changing plans, sudden lockdowns or spiking cases make organizing photography assignments in the Global South even more difficult than before. Nonetheless, thanks to the know-how of our visual creators and clients, assignments are still (or again) possible in most countries. We just have to be a bit more flexible.
Last but not least, we are still in our second fundraising round and hope to see some results there soon. Although Fairpicture will be self-sustaining after 2023, we are still in need of funding to bridge the financial gap. So if you know of a foundation or private donor who is interested in making a truly sustainable development project a reality, please contact Nadja, our fundraiser at [email protected] or give us a call.
Well, that’s it for this post. Please share your thoughts and suggestions with us. We are a learning organization and would love to hear your opinion!
