UNICEF Photography

Beginning with print publications, films, and exhibitions, photography, according to the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), has played a crucial role in their work since the agency was founded in 1946. Now more than ever, the Internet, social media, and proliferating new applications on mobile devices provide additional ways to spread the word.

These platforms are also starting new conversations about children and about UNICEF’s mission: to ensure their rights to good health, an education, and protection from harm.

The UNICEF Photography website provides examples of ways that online tools can be used to tell the stories of children around the world. The features of the site depict the challenges and joys of daily life by linking photos to various perspectives of their subjects' stories.  The images and captioning can be shared via social media or email to further spread their individual messages.  RSS news feed subscription service also allows users automatic updates to the online imagery.

The UNICEF Photography website is organised into the following feature groups:

• Photo of the Week
• Photo Essays
• Can You See Me?
• In Focus
• iPhone App link

The Photo Essays section offers stories depicting children's lives in the context of several topics, including Child protection, Education, Health, HIV/AIDS, Environmental issues, and UNICEF history.  The topic "Child's View" provides photo essays composed of images taken by children and young people.

In other sections, Can You See Me? profiles individual children across the globe, while In Focus features reports on children's lives and UNICEF's work on their behalf.  The iPhone App link provides users an opportunity to download UNICEF Photography for the iPhone.  This provides a mobile platform for viewing and sharing images and stories, and a mapping tool for referencing essay geographies.  Availability for Android and Nokia mobile platforms is under development.