Vanessa Marshall

Bachelor of Arts (Media and communications) - 1997

Teaching poor Guatemalan children the art of digital storytelling is all in a day’s work for UOW Media and Communications graduate Vanessa Marshall.

Well, maybe not part of her usual work, but certainly made possible thanks to the generosity of her employer, international photographic agency Getty Images.

Vanessa works at Getty’s Sydney office, and spent two weeks in Guatemala in November after winning a company-wide competition. The prize was an all expenses

paid trip to a third world country to take part in a workshop to teach disadvantaged children the art of digital storytelling.

“The idea of these workshops is to empower young people with new skills in photography, sound recording and video editing. In doing so we give them a new way

to have their voices heard, a new means of expression which ultimately will drive greater levels of self-confidence,” Vanessa said.

Vanessa’s workshop was run through a Seattle-based organisation called Bridges to

Understanding which was founded by Phil Borges, an internationally awarded humanitarian photographer whose images are included in the Getty catalogue.

Vanessa spent a fortnight in the small town of Santiago Atitlan in Guatemala, working in a team with others from around the world (including Borges) and local Guatemalans from professional backgrounds.

“It was a really valuable experience,” Vanessa said. “We worked with 10 children from poor backgrounds, and it was wonderful to see the possibilities opening up

for them, and seeing them building relationships with professional people in their communities who could act as mentors for them in the future.

“We met one girl who was in her late teens, who did the workshop several years ago. She is now at university and has her own radio program, and is being talked about

as a future mayor … so we could see that the workshops had the potential to really help these kids.”

When Vanessa graduated fromUOW in 1997 she joined the consumer magazine CHOICE, where she was responsible for coordinating photography and printing.

Vanessa also worked briefly in radio advertising, but has found her “home” at Getty Images.

“My role at Getty Images is a mix of transactional sales, business development and account management,” she said. “I primarily respond to enquiries from advertising agencies, publishing houses and corporations regarding the purchase of licenses for stock photography.

It involves multiple service aspects including quotes, order taking, image research, deep file library requests, rights and clearance negotiation.”

(For example, Vanessa helped UOW source a spectacular action shot of Adam Gilchrist for our promotional material for his trip to India, reported on Page 1).

She said working for a global leader was exciting, because she was dealing with successful photographers who cover major world events.

“And Getty is a very generous company. Each year the company invests $US1000 per employee for training and development of the employee's choice. I am currently

using my allowance for career coaching, to take me to the next level.”

Last reviewed: 23 December, 2008