What drives us
We are committed to the collaborative reorganization and effective promotion of independent photojournalism and high-quality documentary photography – as a cornerstone of diversity of opinion in an editorial society.
Our vision
Photojournalism that is rich in perspective is firmly anchored in the perception of a broad public and makes an important contribution to educating the population, raising their awareness of relevant topics and thus strengthening diversity of opinion and democracy.
In the future, the laif foundation will be one of the key supporters and drivers of this development.
Our mission
Photojournalism and media literacy for an informed society and a strong democracy:
credible, critical, independent and effective.
What we do
We provide resources and educational opportunities to promote photojournalism as a profession and as an art form, and to contribute to ensuring that the concerns and perspectives of various groups are heard and respected. This enables people to gain insights into other ways of life and cultures, to better understand the world and to engage with it.
Our values
We support a collaborative media industry focused on the common good, are guided in our work by shared values such as respect, empathy and creativity, and are committed to creating a fairer and safer world. 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.
How we work
We live a transparent, motivating and trusting corporate culture with flexible workplace and time models that promote a high degree of creative freedom within the strategic guidelines. We combine passionate commitment and fun at work with clarity in responsibilities and a structured approach in changing teams.
How we finance ourselves
As a non-profit organization, we are largely financed by private donations and grants from foundations and institutions. We pay attention to transparency in all areas and have installed instruments with which the impact of our work is reviewed and documented both internally and externally. Sponsoring is an important component of our revenue model and also serves to increase the reach of the community platform. Cooperation with sponsors must support our vision and should be transparent and in line with our values.
We want to get better together
We are constantly developing our organization and our services and maintain a lively cooperation network with a wide range of partners in the fields of photography, non-profit journalism and the promotion of democracy.
We want to inspire
We strive for the greatest possible effectiveness and are convinced that we are creating important added value for democratic civil society. It is therefore easy for us to inspire other people or entire organizations and motivate them to accompany us on this journey and support us in achieving our goals.