I came across the work of James Morgan via the photographs he shot on child trafficking in Nepal and India. Going through his website I was further drawn to his work partly because of the focus on Asia, but also because of his emphasis on compassion and respect for those whose stories he told. Suitably impressed I decided to track him down (at least by email – the guy travels a lot) in order to get an insight into his working methods. A big thanks to James for taking the time and effort to respond to my questions despite his busy schedule. *** REP: You emphasize in your approach to photography ‘compassion, respect and understanding’ for the people and issues you photograph. Practically, how do you implement such an approach and what do you feel the outcome is for those you picture? James: I think it all comes down to story telling, being conscious of whose story it is you’re telling and, just as importantly, who you’re telling it to. On the face of it, it’s simply a question of telling your subject’s story in as close to their own voice as possible – but, in reality, it’s a lot more complicated than that. I believe that story telling is as much about creating atmosphere as it is about progressing through a logical series of events. It’s a case of representation through translation. Counter intuitive as it may sound for documentary photography, I find my work hugely subjective and, for me, the space that arises out of that is what constitutes the artistic element. I use photography in the same way as I’d use a paintbrush and I’d like to think that this approach allows me to get closer to the ‘truth’ than a more linear narrative might. zed for different reasons, I can begin to understand how best to translate people’s stories in a way that more and more people can understand. One aspect I really want to start working on now is creating feedback loops for the people I photograph. Just sending them a newspaper article with their picture and some text in a language they can’t understand isn’t enough, I’d like to come up with a way in which they can directly witness the impact their story is having – although of course it’s difficult, I couldn’t tell you where half the people I photographed this year are now. It’s definitely an area I’d like to see NGOs focusing on more – traditionally the audience of NGO funded photo essays are potential donors but I’d like to start being more creative and enabling the people I work with to be both participants and observers in the stories. REP: How does your work with NGOs differ from other assignments? At what stage are you brought in, and how much input do your have in the way images are used in the NGOs communications? James: My work with NGOs doesn’t differ dramatically from other assignments, my style fits well with the needs of NGOs so...
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