CSR & NGO Documentary Photography in Asia

Commissioned as a CSR photographer to document the Asian Development Bank’s $2 billion clean energy push across Asia — solar and cow-dung gas (biogas) in rural Nepal, wind farms in Maharashtra, water mills in Kavrepalanchok, geothermal in Sulawesi, methane reclamation in Shanxi, a jetty in Gujarat, LED technology in Guangzhou, and small-scale hydro in Negros Occidental, among others. Seven countries, remote access, local partners, and extensive field logistics for CSR report photography.

Briefed to document several CARE Bangladesh projects in the north of the country, with an emphasis on capturing images of women in positive roles. Among them were “Food Security for the Ultra Poor in the Haor Region” and “Strengthening Poorest and Vulnerable Households Capability to Improve Food Security in Northwest Bangladesh”. Worked with local grassroots organizations at every level of the project.

Documentary photography for FHI360 (USAID) covering HIV/AIDS prevention and vulnerability across Cambodian communities — public health outreach with at-risk youth and marginalized families in and around Phnom Penh and Siem Reap, including community support networks and health awareness programs.

Commissioned to document the Theun-Hinboun Power Company’s 25th Anniversary, producing a comprehensive visual narrative for a commemorative coffee-table book in Laos. This high-stakes assignment involved capturing the complexity of a $700M infrastructure project funded by the Asian Development Bank (ADB). Beyond documenting massive engineering feats and dam facilities, the brief required extensive stakeholder consultation to authentically portray the project’s impact on upstream and downstream communities. Read the full THPC hydroelectric documentation story in my journal.

Documenting food security among the Chakma people of Bangladesh’s Chittagong Hill Tracts for Helen Keller International. Much of the access was on foot through remote terrain, reaching communities under severe pressure from land encroachment and chronic food scarcity. Shortly after we left, one of the villages we had visited was attacked and homes burned, a stark reminder of the fragile existence ethnic minorities face in this part of Bangladesh.

Documenting schools and daily life across multiple regions of Bangladesh, with a focus on the SHIKHON and CHEVRON non-formal education programs aimed at improving literacy and life skills for disadvantaged children. SHIKHON — meaning “learning” in Bengali — is a community-rooted education initiative designed for marginalized children who have fallen outside the reach of the traditional school system. At its core, the program builds local capacity by training community members to step into the role of teacher, putting the power of education directly in the hands of the villages it serves.

Five camps across some of Thailand’s most remote terrain — Mae La, Umpiem, Nu Poe, Mae Ra Ma Luang and Mae La Oon — documented for The Border Consortium (TBC) during the very week Washington suspended all USAID funding, making the work suddenly more urgent. A mix of portraiture, operational photography, and daily life among largely self-governing communities. One piece of good news amid the upheaval: the Thai Government approved a new policy allowing Burmese refugees to leave the camps and work, a milestone The Border Consortium spent years fighting for. You can explore the complete field essay on the TBC refugee documentation project in my journal.

Twenty years of volunteer work with Father Joe Maier and the Human Development Foundation (HDF), also known as the Mercy Centre, photographing schools, documenting daily life, and working with HIV/AIDS-affected families in Bangkok’s densely populated Klong Toei district. Father Joe arrived in Thailand in 1967 and has spent his life serving the community — a genuine Bangkok legend. One image in this gallery shows President George W. Bush pointing out a detail in one of my photographs during a visit to the Mercy Centre in 2008.

Commissioned by CGIAR to document communities living along the Mekong River at the height of rainy season — travelling from Luang Prabang, Laos, through Phnom Penh, Cambodia, to Bến Tre in Vietnam’s Mekong Delta. The assignment was part of CGIAR’s Challenge Program on Water and Food, which focused on the world’s largest river basins including the Andes, Ganges, Mekong, Nile and Volta. Their mission at the time: water productivity — “More Crop Per Drop”.

Pathfinders is a Hong Kong charity supporting children born to migrant mothers who face unique legal and social vulnerabilities. Commissioned to document the healthcare and social support systems available to this population in Hong Kong, field assignments spanned from urban Central and Kowloon to Kam Tin. Alongside my work as a Hong Kong family photographer, capturing these essential support networks highlights the vital family welfare initiatives operating across the territory.

Documenting communities at extreme risk of HIV/AIDS in Dhaka, Bangladesh — including the Hijra community, people who use drugs, and those infected through a tainted blood supply — through FHI360 drop-in centers, community clinics, and health education programs. Also photographed FHI360-trained peer educators, themselves from the communities they now serve.

In Phin District, Savannakhet Province, Laos, Save the Children is tackling the persistent challenge of chronic malnutrition (stunting) among ethnic minority communities. Through its “First 1000 Days” program, the organization works to establish healthy nutritional practices from the moment of conception, recognizing this critical window as foundational to lifelong health. Breastfeeding is also championed as an effective and natural means of protecting infants from malnutrition in their earliest months of life.

One-day shoot documenting community HIV prevention and health outreach in the Patpong area of Bangkok, coordinated by the Service Workers in Group (SWING) Foundation, alongside wider FHI360 and local NGO partner work on healthcare access and health education in Bangkok and Pattaya.