Photographs change lives HOW HELEN CREATED A FAMILY

Life behind the lens became personal for the Kiwi who wants to save the world

- Fleur Guthrie

Helen Manson is often detained at airport security for her travel history. As a New Zealand-based humanitarian photographer, she regularly travels to the world’s most low-income areas to shine a light on the crises occurring there. Her niche job behind the lens requires being in the thick of it all.

The 40-year-old has found herself in many precarious situations: attending complex police and FBI briefings, carrying chemical warfare gas masks, interviewing ISIS wives fresh from escaping captivity, and witnessing both the pain and beauty found in refugee camps — all while trying to capture it in a way outsiders can understand.

The intrepid mum of four now works as global director of Story, Social and Media Relations at the world’s largest antislavery organisation, International Justice Mission (ijm.org).

Helen’s husband Tim, 43, is charity Tearfund New Zealand’s international programmes director and they’re proud parents of Hope, 11, Eva, 10, Maz, eight, and “Baby A*”, three.

She describes her family as a “stretchy one”, made through adoption, foster care and biology. (*They share their youngest with his birth family, so his identity is kept private.)

How did you go from working in PR for New Zealand Fashion Week and Fendi to being a self-taught photographer in crisis zones?