Why the words and the pictures need to tell the same story

Most organisations commission their words and their pictures separately. A writer works on the impact report. A photographer covers the event. Someone in comms puts them together at the end and hopes they match.

They often don't. The report talks about confidence and long-term change. The photos show a room of people sitting at tables. The reader feels the gap, even if they can't name it, and trusts both a little less.

What I learned from making a film

In 2020 I directed a documentary, My God, I'm Queer, about LGBTQ+ people from Muslim families. It was broadcast on Channel 4 and Film4, and it went on to win Best TV Programme at the Asian Media Awards in 2021.

Film forces you to think about words and pictures together from the very first day. You can't write the script and then go and shoot whatever turns up. Every interview question shapes what you need to film, and every shot changes what the words have to do. I've brought that habit into everything I do since, including still photography.

Why the gap happens

It usually comes down to three things.

Different briefs. The writer is told "show impact". The photographer is told "cover the event". They're doing two different jobs.

Different timings. The photos are taken in March. The report is written in September, by which time nobody remembers who was in which picture or why it mattered.

Different consent. Someone agrees to be photographed, but nobody asks whether their words can be used alongside the picture, or how. That's a gap that can go badly wrong.

How to plan them together

Start from one story plan. Before anyone writes or shoots, agree what changed, for whom, and where you'd see it. Give the same plan to the writer and the photographer.

Shoot for the story, not the event. If the story is about growing confidence, the photographer needs to be there at the start and again later, not just on the day of the big launch. On a community programme I've photographed for one of the world's largest technology companies, the most valued part of the work is seeing participants at the start, in the middle and at the end. The story and the pictures are built around the same change.

Capture words on the day. The best quotes come from the moment, not from a form filled in months later. A few questions asked while the camera is there will give you captions and quotes that match the image.

Agree consent for both. One conversation that covers the photo, the words and how they'll be used together.

The details that make it believable

Some of the strongest images I've taken aren't of faces at all. When I photographed NishkamSWAT's volunteers in central London, some of the most telling pictures were of hands, crates and a van being loaded late at night. On their own, they're just details. With the right words beside them, a volunteer explaining why they give up their evenings every week, they become a story.

That only works when the words and the pictures were planned together.

What to ask for

If you're commissioning a report, a campaign or a partnership story:

• Ask for one story plan that the writer and the photographer both work from.

• Ask for time on the day to capture short quotes alongside the photographs.

• Ask for captions that name the change, not just the event.

• Ask for a single consent conversation that covers both words and images.

• Ask for your charity partner to see the words and pictures together before they go live.

Questions people ask

Do we need one person to do both?

Not necessarily. You need one plan. A photographer and a writer can work brilliantly together if they start from the same story.

What if we already have the photos?

Go back through them with your story plan in hand. You'll often find details you didn't notice at the time, and you'll see clearly what's missing next time.

If you're planning photography for a CSR or community programme, see CSR photography. Every project starts with a story planning session, so the pictures and the words are built around the same change.