responsible tourism

Charity work

I took this picture in Kolkata, working with Future Hope on a piece about with railway slums. Moons ago, I did a PhD about the impacts of tourism in Kerala, and I am fully aware that tourism is not without its impacts, good and bad. Bringing visitors to experience the India I love is also an opportunity to share ways of making a difference in this land of huge economic contrast. I am increasingly fed up with bringing guests to take pictures of India in a vacuum, without cultural context, or knowing about the people they meet and photograph. My tours are moving towards working with non-government organisations in regions such as Gujarat and Kerala, meeting artisans working in textiles, and finding responsible ways of supporting sustainable tourism.

I support Taabar in Jaipur, a railway kids charity with the emphasis on re-uniting children with their families, and Future Hope, a street kids charity in Kolkata.

This support finds different faces: encouraging you to make a donation, teaching kids about photography, lending my skills as a professional photographer. Education is the way forward for India’s next generation. Every trip I take to India I find ways to support these charities I know personally. I hope you will too. Please look at my blog page to share some of the amazing experiences I have had with Taabar & Future Hope.

Click the links below to donate & find out more. (Taabar is currently only supported within India, please talk to Ali about donating).