Welcome to Shutha

What will Shutha do for me?

Shutha will help you:

understand world markets for your work and know how to successfully access and sell to them
know how to relate professionally to buyers around the world so that they want to keep working with you
learn how to deliver photography and multimedia products to buyers at the right standard so they come back for more
build a long-term archive of your work that earns you more money over time

Figure 1 Shutha is part of the Twenty Ten project, a joint initiative of World Press Photo, FreeVoice, Africa Media Online and lokaalmondiaal which was funded by the Dutch Postcode Lottery. Above are pro photographers who participated in a training workshop run in Accra, Ghana in September 2009 - Back Row left to right: Greg Marinovich (trainer, South Africa), Julius Mwelu (Kenya), Carlos Litulo (Mozambique), Davina Jogi (South Africa), Nikki Rixon (South Africa), Chris De Bode (trainer, Holland); Second Row left to right: Alexia Webster (South Africa), Amos Gumulira (Malawi), Simone Scholtz (South Africa), Akintunde Akinyele (Nigeria), Samantha Reinders (South Africa); Front Row left to right: Michael Tsegaye (Ethiopia), Andrew Esiebo (Nigeria), Adolphus Opara (Nigeria)

What makes Shutha unique?

There are several factors that come together to make this a unique resource:

It is free. That does not mean that it is poor quality. Shutha is brought to you by organisations such as World Press Photo and Africa Media Online employing some of the top minds in the photographic world to share with you the most important information when if comes to reaching markets and managing your photo business.
It is aimed at photographers in the Majority World. No other resource that we know of takes into account the challenges faced by professional photographers working in the Majority World, including Africa, Asia and South America.
It is aimed at encouraging photo entrepreneurs. This resource does not tell you how to take photos; as a professional you presumably already know how to do that. Rather, we are focused on your success as a photographer. We know that, like many photographers, you have selected this career because you feel called to it and not because you necessarily believe you will make a lot of money out of it. Yet we also know that if you are going to be able to keep doing what you are called to, your work does need to cover your expenses and earn you a decent income. So this resource is aimed specifically at enabling you to do that well.

Find out more

If you want to find out more about Shutha and how it came about, go to the About page. If you want to get started use the navigation on the left or go to Introduction to Photography and its Markets.

Be a pro. Shutha! Free training for professionals

Figure 2 Shutha is a development of Africa Media Online's African Photo Entrepreneur Programme run in South Africa in 2008