The mission of Photographers Without Borders is simple – to sell beautiful images of the people and places in our world, with the profits going back into education in the countries of origin.

How this came to be is tied up in the personal history of our Founder, David Ryall.

From when I first started travelling the world with gusto at the age of 22, photographing images of the beauty of our world became my passion. I simply love seeing and becoming a part of other cultures and though my eyes, capturing what I think is the essence of a place or a people.

The pure joy of this process for me is almost indescribable. What I feel as soon as I start travelling is my mind clearing, my heart opening , and the awesome sense of oneness that comes when you realise how magnificent this world really is. Just to get out there and see how amazing this small rock that we live on is always a humbling experience. And to then have the ability to capture it and share it with others is simply a privilege.

Now as I am a photographer by profession, I saw the potential to sell the images I captured. But the hang-up for me is that I had a guilt of making a profit from what I saw as other peoples worth. Don't get me wrong, I am all for making a living from my talents, but I couldn't reconcile photographing people and places of the world with a camera that costs more than many of these people earn in a few years – and then selling them for purely personal gain. But without selling them, I didn't know what to do with them except for show friends and family. Until I heard this song:

""...Show us starving kids through expensive lenses
On a far and distant shore
Of which, when sold, could feed a good few
Hey mister rich - Why don't you help the poor."
- Love Lives on My Street, Faithless 2004

This crystallised the thought in my mind, and quickly set me on the path of creating Photographers Without Borders, with a single mission - to sell the images with the profits going back into the country of origin.

The education part of our came in only recently, inspired by a personal development workshop that I attended. The presenter Mitchell Behan said (and I paraphrase) "always pay up, not down. Pay to educate people off the street, never pay them to stay on it". Thus week seek to help people get educated, to improve themselves, thereby enabling them to contribute to and further improve their life, their family, their community, their country, and the world.

Our top 5 goals to be achieved by December 31st 2016 are:

• To invest $1,000,000 into education around the world
• To open 5 retails galleries across the globe
• To be supporting education in over 50 countries
• To sell 10,000 photo products
• To create a network of over 50 contributing photographers

Gratitude

As with the lives of everyone on this planet, I have much to be thankful for, and indeed many people to thank. While It would take pages to thank everyone that has ever helped me, I do want to acknowledge a few that have really made this dream possible.

My family, Murray, Colleen, Rebeeca, Clare, Andy and Oscar – without their love and support, I would be nothing.

The love of my life, Christine, whose passion and natural flair for business has helped keep me on the right path.

My business partner and first Mentor, Wilfred Hendriks, who encouraged me at every step to pursue my dream.

My hard working team at Photo Hendriks, my other company. Without their support in running my business, I would not be able to run this.