Photography has the power to change the world. Throughout history, powerful images have raised awareness, influenced public opinion, inspired action, and driven lasting social change. At Lens for Change, we believe your organization can harness that same power to communicate your impact, build trust, engage supporters, increase donations, and advance your mission. That’s why everything we do is designed to help you use photography more strategically to tell your story.
About
The mission of Lens for Change is to help advocacy and nonprofit organizations strengthen their visual storytelling through ethical, authentic photography.
about
Michelle Riley
Michelle Riley’s love of photography began when she was 12 years old, and by the time she was 15, she knew she wanted to dedicate her life to changing the world through photography. She spent her high school years working as a wedding photographer’s assistant, a photojournalism intern at her local newspaper in Bellevue, Washington, and the sole photographer and photo editor of her high school yearbook. She graduated from the Rochester Institute of Technology with a Bachelor’s degree in photojournalism and began her career as a newspaper photojournalist in 2004.
While she loved the news industry, after a few years of working as a photojournalist at a variety of newspapers in both North Carolina and Massachusetts, Michelle felt that she could make a bigger impact on the world by working as a photographer at an advocacy organization. Specifically, she always had a deep love of animals and wanted to raise awareness about their welfare, and in 2007, she landed her dream job at the Humane Society of the United States, one of the world’s largest animal welfare organizations.
During her 16-year career at the Humane Society, Michelle built the organization’s in-house photography team from the ground up. She photographed hundreds of assignments herself, covering topics related to pets, wildlife, and a variety of editorial assignments for the organization’s print and digital publications. She also traveled internationally and all over the U.S. to photograph the organization’s animal rescues and responses to both man-made and natural disaster situations. Her work was featured in the organization’s magazines, annual reports, websites, emails, social media posts, and fundraising and advertising materials. Her work also appeared in a variety of news publications, such as the Washington Post and the New York Times.
In addition to her work as a staff photographer, Michelle was promoted multiple times, serving as Photo Editor, Senior Photo Editor, and Director of Photography. As the leader of the photography team, she hired and trained in-house staff members, built a large freelance photographer network and digital database, and managed thousands of freelance photography assignments. Michelle also built a user-friendly digital photo library and request system to be used by the organization’s 700-plus person staff. She wrote and implemented policies and procedures on proper photo usage, and provided in-person training services, as well as written resource documents for all staff.
As a news photojournalist at heart, Michelle strongly believed in the power of using authentic and ethical photography to uphold the credibility and integrity of the organization. She wrote and instituted the organization’s first-ever Photo Ethics Policy, which has now been in place for over 14 years. She educated staff on its importance and maintained compliance throughout her career.
Michelle’s inherent understanding of the power of positive publicity also drove her desire to make imagery more widely available. Partnering with the public relations, video, and web teams, she led the creation of a digital platform for providing both photo and video assets to the media in one user-friendly, password-protected system. In addition, Michelle negotiated and signed a contract with the content services division of one of the largest media outlets in the world. This contract resulted in a massive expansion of the organization’s freelance photographer network, as well as the ability to distribute its photos to over 2100 major news outlets worldwide. It also resulted in the ability to design and publish strategic, story-based advertising campaigns.
After a successful and rewarding career of establishing and leading the photography team at the Humane Society of the United States, Michelle left the organization and founded Lens for Change to pursue her lifelong dream of helping a larger variety of advocacy organizations harness the power of authentic photography. Today, she remains driven by her passion for photography and her desire to make a positive difference on the societal and environmental issues she cares deeply about.