Throwing Light - Development Photography and Communications Services

Motivation

Drew and Leah Hood are motivated by the question, “How can we change the world?” More precisely, we are motivated by our answer to that question:

“By helping those who are already changing the world.”

_Photography with a mission

Organizations that focus on art, faith, education, philanthropy, and community service must communicate their mission with power and passion. To that end, great photography is essential. We have been offering photography, writing, and presentation services to organizations for more than four years.

Product

Throwing Light is a photographic agency that also offers writing and consulting services. We focus on helping organizations with social missions tell their stories. See a full description of our services here.

People

Drew Hood and Leah Hood are based in Philadelphia, PA.

We are happily married, and are thrilled to have the opportunity to work together. Each of us brings a unique set of talents into our working relationship.

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• Drew Hood grew up in Louisiana, and has an undergraduate degree in Creative Writing from LSU. He is currently pursuing a Master of Fine Arts degree in Creative Writing at Vermont College. He has also been working as a freelance photographer of social and nonprofit organizations for over four years. In addition to his work with development photography, Drew also photographs weddings and family portraits in the Philadelphia area.
• Leah Hood grew up in Wisconsin, and has an undergraduate degree in Conservation Biology from the University of Wisconsin. She also earned her Master’s degree in International Economic Development from Eastern University. She lived in the Dominican Republic for two years, speaks fluent Spanish and has worked with a number of prominent corporate and nonprofit organizations. Her graduate thesis research on HIV/AIDS took Drew and her to South Africa for four months in 2006. In addition to her work with Throwing Light, she is currently working with Del Camino Connection, an organization connecting world-changers in Latin America with passionate folks in the United States.

Values

We understand the power of photography to give and to take, to exalt and to degrade. In an effort to mitigate the potential for harm, there are a few principles that we value strongly, and that we ask our clients to adhere to:

• Autonomy – Whenever possible, we only photograph individuals who have given at least verbal consent. This does not apply to unrecognizable faces in crowds.
• Generosity – All of our photographs are taken with the intent to benefit the subjects or their communities in some way. We ask that they be used in the same spirit.
• Honesty – We present our photos within a context that fairly represents the real situation, subject identity, or physical location of the image. For example, we would not use an image of a non-orphaned child in a photo essay about orphans.
• Dignity – We believe strongly in the dignity of all people. This affects all aspects of our work; from how we interact with subjects while photographing them, to how we process and finally utilize the photograph. People entrust us with their images, and we consider ourselves careful and compassionate stewards of those images.