How can I improve people's lives through photography?

[Designer]

I'm trying to find my passion.

Why not allow your passion to find you?

If you have to go looking, how will you know when you've found it?

 

[Darthcolo]

Fisrts of all, thank you for replying!

Before thinking of photography as your path to become a social justice warrior, try actually seeing if you like and are good at photography so that it becomes a worthwhile pursuit for you.

I don't want to be a social justice warrior, or something like that. I just want to do something meaningful for me and others. I have noticed that that is one of the keys to develop a passion.
I'm just starting in photography, but I like it very much and I think that am improving bit by bit.

There are so many many ways, both big and small. It is all dependant upon your level of passion, skill and time. A big way is through photojournalism. Bringing important, meaningful, useful and entertaining stories into peoples homes and lives. A small way is to share images in and about your neighborhood and daily life. Example, a neighbor gardens, shoot the garden for them, shoot them enjoying their passion. Another neighbor has a birthday party, shoot the party, another neighbor get a new cat, et cetera. There are plenty of places and organizations to volunteer your services who would been extremely greatful, from schools to clubs to local theatre to city hall and your local library. Teach what you know ... post some flyers and start a beginning photo class. Your opportunities for photography and helping others are only limited by your reach and imagination.

PS- This afternoon I am shooting the dress rehearsal for a talent show at a local high school. I shoot pro-bono and give the kids the images.

Exactly. I sometimes feel that I lack imagination, but in the other hand I have some crazy ideas... so I wanted to start this topic, in order to summarize some advices and ideas.

I'm trying to find my passion.

Why not allow your passion to find you?
If you have to go looking, how will you know when you've found it?

I have learned just recently that the "passion" is not something that finds you (in my case at least), but something that you have to grow and nurture on a regular basis, until it's feels something natural.

I'm using this two videos as a reference, and a lot of reading:

 

[table1349]

Instead of trying to find your passion in something, how about having a passion for everything, i.e. have a passion for life and then things will find you.

 

[Darthcolo]

Instead of trying to find your passion in something, how about having a passion for everything, i.e. have a passion for life and then things will find you.

I found it very hard. Especially when I'm spending 10 hours a day doing something that I don't like, but pay the bills. If you have some advice or tips regarding this matter, I'm all ears.

 

[minicoop1985]

If you want to make a difference, take family photos. Take something that people will have on their wall, but make it a memorable experience for them. Sometimes those photos mean more to someone than most anything else.

 

[Braineack]

how about then focusing on improving your life by exploring your passion of photography?

 

[Mr. Innuendo]

I know someone who takes photos of animals at the local shelter. He brings in the whole studio set-up, photographs the animals and those photos are used on the shelter's website. Instead of seeing a blurry picture of a dog, a person looking through the photos sees nice, clear, professional photographs. The shelter's adoption rate has skyrocketed.

Animals are happy, which makes people happy, which makes the animals happy again.

 

[table1349]

Instead of trying to find your passion in something, how about having a passion for everything, i.e. have a passion for life and then things will find you.

I found it very hard. Especially when I'm spending 10 hours a day doing something that I don't like, but pay the bills. If you have some advice or tips regarding this matter, I'm all ears.

Life isn't going to find you, you have to go find it. Why are you wasting 10 hours a day to pay the bills. Because it's the only thing you can do, because it is beneath you, or because you haven't looked at what you do and found the good points of that job. I've been working for 33 years in a high preasure profession. It can truly suck and get to you if you let it. I have found the good parts to this job and have done it for all these years. It has got me through a lot of shootings, killing, assaults, dead bodies, broken families, broken kids and a whole shopping list of seeder sides of life. If I hadn't found those good points I would left this job long ago for another. As it is I am going to happily retire in a few months after a long satisfying and usefull career.

Doesn't matter whether you are a ditch digger or a great and skilled surgeon, if you want to make the best of life be the best damn ditch digger or surgeon you can be.

 

[rexbobcat]

I'm trying to find my passion. I think that photography could be it. So I would love to know ways in which people's lives could be improved trough a photograph.

There are so many many ways, both big and small. It is all dependant upon your level of passion, skill and time. A big way is through photojournalism. Bringing important, meaningful, useful and entertaining stories into peoples homes and lives. A small way is to share images in and about your neighborhood and daily life. Example, a neighbor gardens, shoot the garden for them, shoot them enjoying their passion. Another neighbor has a birthday party, shoot the party, another neighbor get a new cat, et cetera. There are plenty of places and organizations to volunteer your services who would been extremely greatful, from schools to clubs to local theatre to city hall and your local library. Teach what you know ... post some flyers and start a beginning photo class. Your opportunities for photography and helping others are only limited by your reach and imagination.

PS- This afternoon I am shooting the dress rehearsal for a talent show at a local high school. I shoot pro-bono and give the kids the images.

See, this is what I was thinking. lol

When I think of photography in the way the OP has described, I think of some form of altruism.

 

[weepete]

Sounds to me like find something you like doing and do it. Mibbies it's easy for me, there is a lot of stuff I'd like to do but it does seem to me like the guys in tour videos are talking a lot of new age bullshit. Life isn't always cookies and cream but some things you just need to endure to get to the end. Time and practice at any subject will give you knowledge, reading up on it too. Then you just need to have the motivation to see it through. But do anything for long enough and it will get boring, you will have difficulties and reach problems that seem insurmountable. You just gotta be open to stuff and not give up when you reach a hurdle.

 

[tecboy]

Improving people's lives through photography is really depended on yourself. Sometimes, you have to put in a lot of efforts, and push yourself beyond your limitation. When I volunteer several nonprofit organizations, all I have is a crop sensor DSLR, a speedlight, and perhaps a cheap glass. The campuses are not that appealing, and the lightings are not that great. I max out the intensity of my speedlight, and increase the ISO pretty high. When I give them a low resolution prints about 2 megapixel, they love my photos, and they are very appreciating what I doing for them. I establish a good relationship with these people. Therefore, not only photography improves their lives, it also improves my life as well.

 

[nashir]

"tirediron" Describe the real truth.