John Cairns Photography

Humanitarian Photography

Humanitarian photography

John Cairns is a humanitarian and charity photographer, specialising in international development and humanitarian photography.

He has worked in many, mostly African, countries and has worked with many different aid agencies and charities.

Opportunity International - Micro Finance in Rwanda

Nikuze has been able to borrow small amounts each year for manure/fertiliser for her small paddy field. As a result, the yield has increased 5 fold, so instead of being a subsistence farmer, she now has a surplus she can sell to market. She now sends her children to school and has also been able to build a new house.
Anastase shells maize in the house he bought from the sale of his crops. Small loans have enabled him to increase his crop yields enormously.
Sheku has been blind for 9 years. He is totally dependent on the help he receives from his son and wife. This portrait was taken in rural Sierra Leone for Helen Keller International.
Malawi flood relief

Recent flooding demolished some of the walls of the Mangazua's home. World Vision provided emergency tents for those who's houses were completely destroyed and also emergency food supplies and seed for the next crop.
Fallah Sorsay

Fallah is a very keen footballer. He plays on the beach in Freetown every Saturday morning with his friends.
Amputee football

He is one of several in the team who lost a limb during the civil war.
Kenya - Community health workers meet under a mango tree.
Kisumu, Kenya

For Viva Network.
Tanzania - Vaccinations program in the village
Opportunity International - Micro Finance in Rwanda
Opportunity International - Micro Finance in Rwanda. The women return to their village from a hard morning's work planting rice in the paddy fields.
Micro Finance, Rwanda - Women return home from the co-operative farm after a morning of hard work in the sun.
Opportunity International - Micro Finance in Rwanda

Nikuze checks on her maize harvest was it dries.
School for the blind

Alhaji and Zachariah listen to their trusty radio.
Elube - A sponsor child of World Vision in Southern Africa.
Education in Freetown

Yousef and Abdullai study with their new science textbook. Yousef wants to be a bank manager, whilst Abdullai dreams of being the president.
Philip from the Kroo Bay slums in Freetown, SIerra Leone

With no living parents, Philip survives by trawling through the sewage-ridden water to find things he can sell, namely metal and shoe soles.
Philip

I met up with Philip two years later. Now with a part time job at the local government offices, life had improved for him, although he still lived precariously in Kroo Bay.
Masiaka, Sierra Leone

A mother & her children return home after a day at the market
Malawi - Micro Finance

Innocent started his butchery business thanks to a small loan from Opportunity International. His loan has helped with cashflow when customers have been slow to pay. He's paying the loan back faster than expected and hopes to move on to a 'growth loan' in the future, so he can expand his business.
Rarieda District - Wilfreda carries out her health checks in this rural Kenyan village.
Tanzania

A boy eats sugar cane in this Tanzanian village
Tengbeh Town, Freetown

For the last 10 years Fatu has sold fruit in the same spot by the road.
Rariera District, Kenya. The oldest lady in the village
Essah

Essah (on right) jokes with his brother Saidu. Essah has been blind for several years and relies heavily on his brother's help.
Living without sight, Sierra Leone

Mr Koroma lost his sight during the civil war. There are very limited sources of income for blind people in Sierra Leone, so he supports his family by begging and is led around by his son Amara. He has to strike a balance between getting enough money for the family, whilst not taking Amara out of school too much.
Tanzania

A woman describes the difficulties she faces since her husband died of AIDS.
Blinded by the measles, aged 5, Thomas is a tireless campaigner for the rights of the blind and disabled in Sierra Leone.
Tanzania

Children are tested for HIV
Tanzania

Negative! A girl and her mother celebrate the negative result of the HIV test.
Tanzania

Orphaned by HIV, these siblings live with their grandmother, who makes her living by weaving baskets.
Tanzania
Tanzania

Apono, aged 13, lost his mother when he was 3. He lives with his father who is a musician.
New housing, Tanzania

Scolara stands between her old and new houses. The new one was funded by Milday staff who all donate a proportion of their income to help those in need.
Kilandi, Kenya

Children sift through the debris the day after a fire has destroyed the market place.
Sierra Leone

Charity photography
Freetown, Sierra Leone

Thank you for visiting my charity and humanitarian images. Whilst most of my charity portfolio is in Africa, I have also worked with plenty of charities here in the UK. Please don't hesitate to get in touch if you are interested in commissioning me to photograph a charity. You can drop me a n email at john@johncairns.co.uk, or you can use the contact form.

Alternatively, you might like to look at my commercial projects, or at my portraits.

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