Photography and Social Change: Nuru Project
Nuru Project is a unique social enterprise model that uses photography to raise finance for sustainable social ventures. The project is the brainchild of photographer turned social entrepreneur, JB Reed, whose work has been featured in leading publications such as the Washington Times, New York Times and Bloomberg.
The project aspires to highlight the condition of under-privileged communities in the remote areas of the world. It creates a greater level of engagement with photojournalism images than what is the common practice. It is different from a news magazine because the photo prints continue to live in the homes of the customers, while the magazine gets replaced with the next issue.
Reed got the inspiration for Nuru Project following a Fulbright fellowship in Kenya. He felt responsible towards the people who became the subject of his photography, and gave him their time, access and friendship. By the time he was through with his project in Nairobi, Reed put up a gallery show in Boston. The print sale proceeds from the show were sent to a nonprofit working for the people of the community who had been photographed by Reed. That show became the revenue model for future Nuru Project fundraisers.
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Vikas is a staff writer for the Sustainable Development news and editorial section on Justmeans. He is an MBA with 20 years of managerial and entrepreneurial experience and global travel. He is the author of "The Power of Money" (Scholars, 2003), a book that presents a revolutionary monetary economic theory on poverty alleviation in the developing world. Vikas is also the official writer for an international social project for developing nations "Decisions for Life" run in collaboration between the ILO, the University of Amsterdam and the Indian Institute of Management.
