Benefits of Membership in SocialDocumentary.net

Welcome to SocialDocumentary.net, a website devoted to showcasing documentary photography exhibits from around the world. SDN uses the power of photography to create global awareness.

We encourage photographers, photo editors and buyers, gallery owners, NGOs, students, educators, and the general public to join our community.

Free Membership includes:

• Bi-weekly e-mail Spotlights on new exhibits
• Announcements on new SDN features
• Ability to create and submit exhibits (exhibits must be approved, and there is a fee to post and maintain exhibits.)
• Ability to submit news to the site (announcements, gallery shows, books, etc)

Join SDN now

Click below for additional benefits if you are a:
Photographer
NGO
Editor
Student

Photographers

SDN encourages professional and amateur photographers to create online exhibits of their documentary work for a modest fee. Exhibits need to meet minimum criteria but we do not edit work. SDN is committed to the wiki format of user generated content and collaboration.

Top 10 benefits of an SDN presence for photographers:

1. Your images will be found by photo editors, journalists, students, and anyone coming to SDN to search for documentary content. We offer search engine optimization and tagging for every exhibit.
2. You will gain additional exposure for the issues that you are documenting.
3. You will become part of the largest network of documentary photographers on the web and your work is eligible for a feature in our weekly email Spotlight that reaches over 5,000 subscribers, including the media.
4. The cost to you to create an online exhibit is much less than creating your own website.
5. SDN serves as an additional online marketing tool to increase traffic to your documentary work. We send out Tweets for every new exhibit to our Twitter followers.
6. Your images will be presented larger than almost any other photo website (but we also prevent unwarranted copying.)
7. You will have your own personal home page with a URL with your name, a photo, and biography, and links to your exhibits on SDN.  You can link to this URL from your own website and other social networking sites or blogs.
8. You will have numerous other fields to provide  information on your subject matter, on you, on groups that are helping your subjects.
9. You can view statistics on how many people have viewed your exhibit and all exhibits have viewer feedback forms for the public to comment on your exhibit.

Join SDN Now

NGOs

SDN encourages NGOs to work with photographers to create online exhibits of their programs for a modest fee. Exhibits need to meet minimum criteria but we do not edit your work. SDN is committed to the wiki format of user generated content and collaboration.

Top 10 Benefits of an SDN presence for NGOs:

1. If you don’t currently host images online, you can easily and affordably create an online portfolio of your organization’s work for much less than the cost of creating and maintaining your own website. We offer search engine optimization and tagging for every exhibit.
2. Even if you already have your own website, SDN serves as an additional online marketing tool to increase traffic to your programs and campaigns. We send out Tweets for every new exhibit to our Twitter followers.
3. Your programs and campaign messages will reach additional audiences. Your images will be searchable and seen by journalists, policy makers, students, and anyone coming to SDN to search for documentary content and to learn more about the world.
4. You will become part of the largest network on the web committed to using the power of photography to create global awareness and action. Your work is eligible for a feature in our weekly email Spotlight that reaches over 5,000 subscribers, including the media.
5. Your images will be presented larger than almost any other photo website, such as Flicrk, (but we also prevent unwarranted copying.)
6. You will have your own personal home page with a URL with your name, a photo, and biography, and links to your exhibits on SDN.  You can link to this URL from your own website and other social networking sites (such as Facebook, MySpace, LinkedIn) or blogs. You can send this URL to policymakers, donors, campaigners, and other stakeholders in your issues.
7. You will have numerous other fields to provide  information on your subject matter, including space for action alerts and other advocacy.
8. You can view statistics as to how many people have viewed your exhibit.
9. All exhibits have viewer feedback forms for the public to comment on your exhibit and learn about your organization.

Join SDN now

Editors (including photo editors)

SocialDocumentary.net is the only online resource that provides access to quality documentary imagery that can also be licensed for commercial use (starting April 2009). All exhibits have contact information for photographers and links to their personal websites.

Benefits for editors:

1. Powerful search tools to instantly find images about hundreds of issues around the globe and in the US such as poverty, global health, immigration, war, workers, women, and countless others. Search by country, issue, photographer or key word.
2. Immediately get contact information for photographers who can provide you with the images on SDN or other images from their stock collection.
3. Find photographers working on location around the world to call on to do photo shoots without needing to pay travel expenses.
4. All images on SDN have already been reviewed for quality and documentary integrity.
5. SDN is the fastest growing site devoted entirely to  social documentary photography
6. Receive weekly spotlights highlighting new work and new photographers.

Join SDN now

Students

SDN encourages all students (photography, journalism, art school, high school, college) to create online exhibits of their documentary work for a modest fee. Exhibits need to meet minimum criteria but we do not edit your work. SDN is committed to the wiki format of user generated content and collaboration.

Top 10 Benefits of an SDN presence:

1. You can easily and affordably create an online portfolio of your work for much less than the cost of creating and maintaining your own website. We offer search engine optimization and tagging for every exhibit.
2. Even if you already have your own website, SDN serves as an additional online marketing tool to increase traffic to your documentary work. We send out Tweets for every new exhibit to our Twitter followers.
3. Your images will be searchable by photo editors, journalists, students, and anyone coming to SDN to search for documentary content.
4. You will become part of the largest network of documentary photographers on the web and your work is eligible for a feature in our weekly email Spotlight that reaches over 2,000 subscribers, including the media.
5. Your images will be presented larger than almost any other photo website (but we also prevent unwarranted copying.)
6. You will have your own personal home page with a URL with your name, a photo, and biography, and links to your exhibits on SDN.  You can link to this URL from your own website and other social networking sites (such as Facebook, MySpace, LinkedIn) or blogs and give to potential employers, schools, gallery owners, etc.
7. You will have numerous other fields to provide  information on your subject matter, on you, on groups that are helping your subjects.
8. You can view statistics as to how many people have viewed your exhibit.
9. All exhibits have viewer feedback forms for the public to comment on your exhibit.

Join SDN now