A credible witness to world events

We are shaping change in visual journalism –

for an informed society and a strong democracy.

We are shaping change in visual journalism –

for an informed society and a strong democracy.

Photojournalism as one of the pillars of press freedom is an elementary component of democracy. Authentic photography is systemically relevant.

The non-profit laif foundation works to ensure that these photos can continue to be taken, that they reach people and that people can continue to trust them.

We are united by a humanistic world view in which people, regardless of age, health, origin, identity, culture, sexual orientation, religion and worldview, treat each other openly and honestly, critically and self-critically, collaboratively and sustainably.

The most important issues of our time are the most difficult to present.

We organize exhibitions, festivals and projects that use photojournalism and visual storytelling to make complex and abstract content accessible.

We want to avoid clichés and strengthen social cohesion.

There have never been more photos. It has never been more difficult to evaluate and understand them.

We promote media literacy through workshops, competitions, lectures and discussion rounds that offer orientation and exchange – against fake news and for a responsible use of artificial intelligence.

We lay the foundation for photography to reach people emotionally on socially relevant topics and bring them into dialog.

“Alternative facts” determine the debates.

Public media are in a state of transformation.

Privately organized journalism is less and less able to fulfil its information and control function,

Social media companies are becoming increasingly powerful. Algorithms and artificial intelligence are shaping public opinion, largely without any comprehensible ethical or editorial standards.

This is a threat to social cohesion.
If critical journalism and therefore also photojournalism increasingly lose their control function as the so-called “fourth estate”, democracy will also crumble.

We want to prevent that.

Unterstützen sie unsere Arbeit

Support our work

As a non-profit foundation, we are committed to independent and transparent journalism that is effectively oriented towards the common good. This makes us a real pathfinder in photojournalism.

And because the more we are, the more we can achieve, we are working towards this goal with more than 250 colleagues under one roof.

We work together with CORRECTIV, Reporters Without Borders, Good News, Netzwerk Recherche and many others in “Publix”, a worldwide unique journalism and innovation project of the Schöpflin Foundation which goal is to strengthen the media role.

The laif community is a home where you can take responsibility and contribute to society. We are looking for people and organizations to accompany us on this journey.

Would you like to make a private donation, support our work with your company through responsible sponsorship or get involved in a specific topic or project as a foundation?

There are many interesting ways in which you can effectively reach more people together with us.

Be part of it.
Feel free to contact us directly.

Ulf Schmidt-Funke
+49 40 430 91 437
partner@laif-foundation.org