Overview
“Photography is a small voice, at best, but sometimes one photograph, or a group of them, can lure our sense of awareness.”
W Eugene Smith
An Equal Share is about supporting indigenous communities and helping preserve nature through fine art photography. 50% of the net income from photographs produced will be donated to projects that support communities in threatened landscapes.
While indigenous people and local communities protect much of our remaining biodiversity, they are disproportionately affected by climate change, in part because of their high dependence on nature for their livelihoods, social and cultural life.
An Equal Share is an initiative by photographer Stevie Mann and social scientist Dr Delphine Malleret King. By sharing the breathtaking landscapes these communities care for whilst connecting you with some of the individuals that embody these communities and their cultures, we hope to use fine art photography to raise awareness and funds for projects that focus on empowering communities to strengthen their resilience in the face of social, environmental and climate challenges.
Who we are
Stevie Mann
In 30 years as a photographer, I’ve been fortunate to travel to many countries, and meet many people. Life’s necessities and career chances meant that I became a commercial photographer. But it was not always this way, and I started out as a photographer of people. In all my travels, the thing that has always given me most consistent joy and satisfaction is meeting and photographing people: the brief encounters, the fleeting friendships, that magical spark that only human contact can bring. As humans, I believe our similarities are far greater than our differences: we laugh the same, we love the same, we grieve the same. But we do not all earn the same. As a father of three educated daughters, it causes me discomfort to meet people who struggle to be able to educate their children. An Equal Share is an initiative long in the making, and represents an exciting opportunity for us to make modest but material differences to individuals and livelihoods.
Dr. Delphine Malleret King
As a social scientist and conservationist, my passion has always been the interaction between people and nature. I have had the privilege to work with many indigenous and local communities during my career through diverse projects and initiatives across the world. Every time, every where, I have been touched by people’s humour, philosophical outlook, their generous hospitality despite the hardship and their deep, deep love for their land, the earth. I wanted to contribute in a different way. Meeting Stevie has opened another avenue to raise awareness about the extraordinary people behind some of the most unique wilderness remaining. An Equal Share is an opportunity for us to support, as much as we can, initiatives that impact lives.
How we work
“ Education and knowledge cannot be taken away by drought.”
Sinore, Laikipiak Masaai pastoralist, Kenya.
An Equal Share Photography is a collaboration between ourselves, NGOs/CBOs (community based organisations), and the communities we have partnered with. It is a UK registered Limited company committed to giving 50% of the net profit on print sales to selected field based NGO or CBOs.
Meeting and working with the communities of Ol Lentille has inspired us to develop a process by which we will collaborate with other indigenous communities around the world.
We will establish long term formal partnerships with aligned projects, organisations, producing series of images that focus on the people and communities at the heart of the projects. These images aim to reflect the individual characteristics of each community, capturing the symbiotic (and to us, very beautiful) relationship of the people, their culture and their land.
We believe that initiatives focused on supporting indigenous communities to drive their own future and preserve the land they rely on are critical for addressing some of the environmental and social challenges the world faces. This is why access to education and empowerment projects will be one of An Equal Share’s priorities.
Most projects supported by the fine art photography prints purchased through An Equal Share will be selected on the basis that: their mission is aligned with our focus, their approach is collaborative and community based, and that they can demonstrate impact and good governance. We practise ethical photography, identifying individuals who embody the community, and focus on telling their story. All individuals portrayed in our photographs voluntarily participate, are paid for their time, and consent to the photographs being sold on the website or through different media, on the understanding that 50% of the net profit is returned to their community through agreed projects. All individuals are asked to appear as they wish to be portrayed, and where possible when we can find them on return visits, all are given finished photographs of themselves and asked if they approve of how they were represented.
As you browse through our gallery, you will be able to read more information about the projects we support. We hope that you will be as excited and inspired as we are about the potential to make a difference.
