Pittwater Life May 2019 Issue

Celebrating
our volunteers
News
Who better to illustrate the passion,
enthusiasm and support of our local
volunteers than the man behind these
images, photographer Michael Mannington?
It’s been 10 years since Michael (pictured)
f ounded Volunteer Photography,
providing free professional
photography services
to local charity, community
and sporting groups.
And to mark this
milestone and the fact the
service has evolved from
a simple idea of taking
pictures of volunteers as
mementos to now also capturing
and providing highquality
images for not-forprofits
to use in internal
communications, media,
advertising and in exhibitions,
the service now has a
new name – Community Photography.
Michael, who worked as a professional photographer
in the 1960s before taking a different
career path, only set about exploring the world
of digital photography in his retirement.
“Somebody mistakenly took me for a working
pro and asked if I could photograph a group of
volunteers at work,” he told Pittwater Life.
“One shoot led to another and introduced me
to the amazing world of volunteering and its
prodigious contribution to our society.”
By the end of his first year in 2009, Michael
had completed 20 shoots. The following year
the work doubled, and now a decade on, Michael
and a small band of highly skilled photographers
cover more than 100 shoots each year.
Community Photography recently notched
up its one-thousandth assignment and has
published more than 100,000 images covering
a broad range of events, not-for-profits and the
people that make them tick,
including visiting dignitaries
and senior politicians.
Michael said that
recognising the value of
photographing volunteers
came in his second year of
service when shooting for
Foodbank, Australia’s largest
food relief organisation.
“A volunteer showed the
photo I took of him to his
daughter and grandchildren
and to his amazement
the photo created an immediate
reaction of astonishment
as they had no idea
what granddad had been doing every Tuesday
for the past 10 years!” he said.
Although often called on to work further
afield, Michael and the team prefer to focus
close to home on the Northern Beaches… a place
with so many wonderful volunteers.
“Recording volunteer contributions for individual
volunteers and for their future generations
makes our work rewarding,” he said.
– Lisa Offord
* May 20-26 is National Volunteer Week. To
find out more about how you can contribute
check out the Northern Beaches Volunteer
Expo at Dee Why RSL on May 22; more info
9931 7777.
18 MAY 2019
The Local Voice Since 1991