COVID changed everything.
Whether you are a grant seeker, wedding photographer, photojournalist, or video producer, the old techniques of engaging clients or funders are not going to cut it this year. We know businesses require fresh approaches and new models to adapt to the post-COVID marketplace. With one of our private coaching sessions, you will get actionable feedback on your portfolio, website, grant applications, or marketing plan.
You chose the topic and the consultant.
You can pick the consultant who best meets your needs based on their real-world expertise. Then, in a detailed questionnaire, you let us know what topics or projects you want to discuss and how we can best prepare for our time together. With our team, you’ll get an impartial, outside opinion so you can see things from the perspective of the editor, client, or funder.
Accountability is easier with a coach.
When you listen to successful entrepreneurs, politicians, and athletes, the vast majority say they couldn’t have achieved their goals without a great team and powerful mentors. Our goal is to help you identify opportunities you may have overlooked, find pathways to improvement, hone in your presentation, and focus your time on what will create success.
Get an unbiased outside opinion.
Our program is aimed at stopping the cycle of solo project development and finding you a professional coach to lean on and learn from as you stride towards your objectives. We are here to give you honest feedback from a different point of view. Every session ends with a doable list of goals and areas of improvement to help you concentrate on immediate, rapid success.
Don’t wait for an opportunity to pass you by.
It’s easy to get lost in the day to day routine and not realize where you need a new approach. Our consulting program wants nothing more than to see you succeed, adapt to a changing marketplace, and achieve your goals. We strive to do this quickly, efficiently, and affordably. Sign up for a consult today and let’s start planning for your success!
If you would like to discuss this program more, reach out to our team via email or at our office line, US+1-202-688-1448 . We are happy to help find the perfect program for you.
You and your coach will have a private Zoom meeting and utilize both video and screen sharing for the session. If you want to ask us any questions about the process or want to book multiple consults, please contact our office and we will walk you through the steps.
Mentor Jamie Rose and photojournalist Dan Sarch (L) participate in a Momenta 1-hour consult on Zoom. See Dan’s testimonial further down the page!
1-Hour Consult Session
Location: Online
Available Consultants: Sarah Leen & Lauren Steel of The Visual Thinking Collective, Preston Gannaway, Thomas Patterson, Allison Zaucha, Marianne Sabrier, BP Miller, Eva Russo, Ibarionex Perello, and Momenta’s co-founders Jamie Rose and John Chris Anderson
*Bios & Specialties available below*
Dates: multiple days per week for each consultant
Cost: $290.00 per session
(10% off if you book 2 sessions or 20% if you book 3+ sessions)
How does this work?
FIRST, register + set an appointment.
- Contact our offices directly to schedule your consulting session.
- We’ll work with you and your desired consultant to choose a date/time for your private session.
- After that, we send you a confirmation email and a detailed pre-meeting questionnaire.
NEXT, meet with your consultant.
- You and your consultant will have your scheduled Zoom meeting.
- We will record the session and provide you a digital copy.
FINALLY, get actionable feedback.
- After you are done, your consultant will send you a post-meeting feedback form with specific tips and suggestions based on your session.
- These will be tasks, challenges, learning suggestions, or activities aimed at your specific goals discussed during your time together.
You can always reach out to our team at our office line, US+1-202-688-1448, for immediate questions. We don’t have a robot answering service because we actually like talking to other humans! Let us help you find the perfect consultant for your business growth.
Meet Our Consulting Faculty
Sarah Leen, Award Winning Photo Editor
Sarah Leen
In 2013, Sarah Leen became the first female Director of Photography at the National Geographic Partners leaving in 2019 to launch the Visual Thinking Collective for independent women visual professionals who elevate the photo community through editing, teaching, curating and project management. Learn more about their amazing work at https://www.visualthinkingcollective.com.
For nearly 20 years Leen worked as a freelance photographer for the National Geographic magazine until 2004 when she joined the magazine staff as a Senior Photo Editor. As a photographer Leen published sixteen stories and produced six covers for the National Geographic magazine.
She has juried numerous contests and participated in portfolio reviews for Pictures of the Year International, Lens Culture, Critical Mass, Photo Lucida, ASMP, The FotoEvidence Book Award, the Carmignac Photojournalism Award, the W. Eugene Smith Grant, the Getty Images Editorial Grants, the New York Times Portfolio Reviews, PhotoNola, the ASMP and the World Press Joop Swarts Masterclass. She is on the Board of the International League of Conservation Photographers and on the Advisory Council for the Eddie Adams Workshop.
Leen works individually with photographers and agencies editing long term projects and books including the America, Again project by the VII Photo agency and the 2020 FotoEvidence World Press Photo Book Award winner book HABIBI by Antonio Faccilongo.
Leen believes in sharing her knowledge through mentoring and teaching photography and photo editing workshops at the Missouri Photo Workshops, the Maine Media Workshops, the Santa Fe Photo Workshops, the Eddie Adams Workshop and the PhotoLux Festival in Lucca, Italy.
Sarah Leen is a Founder and Editor the Visual Thinking Collective.
“I enjoy collaborating with photographers working on long term projects. I love to brainstorm ideas, discuss visual themes, help you find your strengths, propose photo editing strategies for magazines, books, contests, grants and sequencing narratives for publication.” – Sarah
Lauren Steel, NYTimes Photo Editor
Lauren Steel
Lauren Steel is a Visuals Consultant for photographers, brands, media, agencies, foundations, and non-profits to craft authentic visual narratives. Previously, she was Director of Photography at Verbatim Photo, a subsidiary of Getty Images that she co-founded in 2016. Lauren was a part of the rebranding and launch of Getty Images Reportage where she started the Emerging Talent program. She was at Getty Images for 15 years.
She has been involved in the photojournalism community for over 20 years working with some of the greatest award-winning photographers in their field. These collaborations have produced exhibits, photo-books, and campaigns worldwide. She has guest lectured at ICP, SVA, and Columbia. Her career started in the editorial world after college when she worked at LIFE magazine as the photo and art assistant. From there she started doing photo research and continued to work on their special book projects including the New York Times Best Seller “One Nation.”
Lauren is based in Brooklyn and one of the elite team members of the Visual Thinking Collective. You can also follow her on Instagram.
Jamie Rose, Humanitarian Photojournalist
Jamie Rose
Jamie is co-Founder and COO of Momenta Group, LLC which operates Momenta Workshops and Momenta Creative, and manages Wildfire Media, a nonprofit dedicated to documentary storytelling. Her early career was spent in the halls of power as a Press Corps photojournalist covering Capitol Hill and the White House, primarily as a long-term contractor for The New York Times.
Her passion for working with nonprofits led her to documentary coverage of humanitarian and health crises in Africa, North and South America, and the Middle East. Her clients included organizations such as Doctors Without Borders, The Calvert Foundation, The Global Fund, and Physicians for Human Rights.
In 2011, Jamie was awarded the United Nations’ Photographers Leadership Award. Her long-term photo projects have won acclaim from the Alexia Foundation and The White House News Photographers’ Association for her portfolio of Doctors Without Borders (MSF) health care workers in wartime Northern Uganda.
Jamie is considered an expert in nonprofit communications and has been interviewed about the importance of storytelling in nonprofit communications by The Candid Frame, Photo District News (PDN), Around the Lens, Photography Talk, Creative Marketing & Business Podcast, and News Photographer Magazine, among others. She has been an invited lecturer on communications for nonprofits at Harvard University, Columbia University, Georgetown University, University of Oregon, NPPA’s Northern Short Course, and her alma maters.
Jamie holds degrees in Literature and Communications from American University and Visual Interactive Communications from the S.I. Newhouse School of Communications at Syracuse University. She also runs the popular blog, Jamie’s List which promotes jobs and opportunities for creatives. She lives in the mountains of Oregon with her husband, co-founder of Momenta John Chris Anderson, and their rescue dog, Cody. Please don’t look up her website because it’s woefully out of date and will be redesigned hopefully someday before the next decade. Better yet, visit Momenta’s Instagram or Student Archives to see her editing work.
Eva Russo, owner PhotoLadyLove
Eva Russo
Three-time Pulitzer Prize nominee Eva Russo is a former staff photographer for the Richmond Times-Dispatch and current owner of the incredibly successful Photo Lady Love, Inc. studios in Memphis, Tennesee.
Eva was born and raised in Italy, lived for a long period of time in France, and then settled in the United States. A graduate in photojournalism from the prestigious Newhouse School at Syracuse University, Eva uses photography, video, and audio in her photographic storytelling for clients.
Eva received two nominations for the Pulitzer Prize for her two-year-long project documenting living and working conditions in the Richmond City Jail. Her work focused on the daily life and struggles of the inmates as well as mental health and recidivism issues. Her third nomination came from a piece she created on a Momenta sorkshop covering Vietnamese immigrants recovering from Hurricane Katrina.
She has covered daily assignments ranging from little league games to political campaigns to the Queen of England’s visit to Virginia. However, her passion for social documentary projects is what makes her tick. Her accolades and award-winning coverage for the paper include coverage of the Winter Olympics, the aftermath of the Virginia Tech shootings, the devastation of Hurricane Katrina in Mississippi, Presidential Inaugurations, Queen Elizabeth’s visit to Richmond, and the 2010 earthquake in Haiti.
Her work has been published in the New York Times, The Washington Post, The Los Angeles Times, and the Dallas Morning News among others. She has won numerous regional and national accolades for her documentary work.
We first worked with Eva as an attendee on our Project Uganda workshop where she documented AIDS clinics and communities in the war-ravaged Northern territories. Her dedication for documentary humanitarian nonprofit stories led us to offer her a position with Momenta and she consistently gets rave reviews from our clients and she is one of our most popular faculty members to date. She is an exceptional photo editor and excels at contest and story editing. She is also an exceptional business coach for photographers looking to strike out on their own and start a thriving photo business.
See Eva’s photojournalism portfolio here or her wedding and lifestyle work here.
BP Miller, owner of Chorus Photography
BP Miller
BP Miller is an award winning photographer, photojournalist and speaker. His work has been seen in the The Philadelphia Inquirer, The Philadelphia Daily News, Rolling Stone & The New York Times.
In 2008, BP and his business partner (and wife) founded Chorus Photography, a premiere event photography studio with headquarter in Philadelphia and a satellite office in San Francisco. With 11 staff and dozens of photographers and vendors on contract, Chorus offers all manner of event photography, corporate, lifestyle, nonprofit and portraiture to its clients.
In 2014, BP Miller was a nominee for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society’s Man Of The Year, and together with his enthusiastic team, raised more than $32K towards fighting blood cancers. The emotional impact of this campaign inspired Chorus to continue to explore further cancer-fighting efforts in which to lend its talents and support. “Chorus Against Cancer” is now an ongoing effort to raise money for a variety of organizations dedicated to fighting cancer, advanced treatment & research, and finding a cure. Chorus Photography also has actively worked with The Greater Philadelphia Film Office, Philabundance Habitat for Humanity of Montgomery County, and are the exclusive photographers for “Preston & Steve’s Camp Out For Hunger” in Philadelphia, the single biggest food drive in the United States.
In 2021, BP was honored to have his work on the 2020 COVID Pandemic coverage selected by Smithsonian to be placed in the National Archives as well as for an upcoming exhibit. He is an active volunteer in the industry and served as the former Mid-Atlantic Chair of the National Press Photographers Association (NPPA) as well as board member of the Northern Short Course In Photojournalism and ASMP Philadelphia.
He is a member of RTDNA (Radio, Television Digital News Association) and The National Press Club. When he is not speaking at professional conferences about photography, he spends his free time volunteering, biking, and supporting local businesses in his charming home base of Skippack, Pa. with his wife and their new puppy, Tucker. See more of BP and the team at Chorus Photography’s work at https://www.chorusphotography.com.
John Chris Anderson, Photo Editor + Founder of Momenta
John Anderson
John Christopher Anderson, founder of Momenta Group, has been an active player in the photographic industry for nearly fifteen years. His background includes roles as photojournalist, daily news and travel photo editor, and as a Photo and Illustrations Editor for National Geographic Society. This collection of experience, plus a passion for the Craft of Concerned Documentary Photography, helped him find the inspiration to launch Momenta.
The company has creative, educational, and consulting divisions specializing in nonprofit and NGO strategic communications and educational workshops. In 2017, Chris helped Momenta launch a charitable nonprofit called Wildfire Media, which provides capacity-building and development assistance, along with a dose of inspiration, to under-supported NGO communities, charities and documentarians around the world.The challenges of using powerful visual messaging and open-source research content, as a vehicle for educating the public, has grown into his biggest passion of late.
John lives with his wife and business partner, Jamie Rose, in the beautiful mountains of Oregon. When he’s not working on Wildfire and Momenta, you can find him blazing down a singletrack on his mountain bike, perfecting a carve on a snowboard, or hiking the backcountry trails with Jamie and their rescue pup Cody.
Allison Zaucha, Commerical & Editorial Photojournalist
Allison Zaucha
Allison Zaucha is an independent award-winning photojournalist based in Los Angeles, California. She is passionate about working on social issues with a variety of news publications and nonprofit organizations. In addition, Allison loves developing meaningful storytelling campaigns with brands and commercial clients. She uses the camera as a means of connection, empowerment and understanding.
In 2016, was chosen for American Photography 32. In 2018, she was nominated for PDN’s 30: New and Emerging Photographers to Watch in 2018, was chosen again for American Photography 34, and received second place in NPPA’s Northern Short Course contest for portraitureAllison is an alumni NYT Eddie Adam’s Workshop, Missouri Photo Workshop as Women Photograph’s scholarship winner, a selected attendee for the New York Time’s Portfolio Review, and Momenta Workshops.
Her select clients include Cosmopolitan, The Atlantic, Broadly, Life & Thyme, Kohler, Youtube, House Beer, sweetgreen, The Wing, International Rescue Committee, Harlem Lacrosse, and Travis Manion Foundation among others. In 2018, her work was published in the commemorative historical book Together We Rise: The Official Oral History of the Women’s March by the Organizers.
You can see more of Allison’s work at www.allisonzaucha.com or on Instagram at @allisonzaucha.
Ibarionex Perello, host of The Candid Frame
Ibarionex Perello
Ibarionex Perello is a photographer, author and podcaster. He is the host and producer of The Candid Frame podcast, which for the past 13 years has featured conversations with some of the world’s best established and emerging photographers, including Joel Meyerowitz, Eli Reed, Mary Ellen Mark, Elliot Erwitt, and more.
Ibarionex is also the author or co-author of six books, including Chasing the Light: Improving Your Photography Using Available Light and Making Photographs: Developing a Personal Visual Workflow. His photographs and articles have appeared in numerous publications and websites including Digital Photo Pro, Outdoor Photographer, Rangefinder, Shutterbug, and Popular Photography. You can find his books here, the podcast app for Android or iOS, and his website here.
Marianne Sabrier, co-owner of The Red M Studio
Marianne Hawkins Sabrier
Marianne is a born and bred New Orleans native, enjoying photography as a second career. With her husband Steve, she runs an amazingly successful wedding and portrait business, The Red M Studio. Marianne and Steve have been delighting their clients with their clean, bold, authentic photographic style since 2011.
Marianne is a passionate storyteller with a keen eye for capturing moments that matter and that passion for moments has made her one of our favorite workshop coaches. She is a keen expert at business development (she has an MBA!) and used that knowledge to grow The Red M Studio into a premiere wedding and lifestyle exclusive studio in the Big Easy. The studio has earned accolades such as the Best of the Knot Hall of Fame and WeddingWire Couple’s Choice award winners every year for five years in a row.
While studying and researching to develop her documentary style, Marianne attended our Project New Orleans program and fell in love with the #MomentaFamily and nonprofit photography. As part of their studio’s outreach, The Red M annually donates a percentage of their family-sessions to eliminating food instability and hunger in Lousiana. To date, the program has raised more than $15,500 for local schools and non-profits in the Greater New Orleans area. Steve and Marianne also work on an annual food drive fundraiser that feeds over 1,500 people each year. As they like to say, “we feed people with our cameras”.
Year after year, Marianne has received loving reviews as a professional mentor from our students and we are delighted to have another alum on our Momenta faculty. Visit Marianne’s gorgeous work at https://www.theredmstudio.com or on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/
Tom Patterson, Nonprofit Multimedia Editor
Thomas Patterson
Thomas Patterson is an audiovisuals editor for Partners In Health, a social justice NGO that provides health access and research to the world’s most vulnerable communities. His professional work specializes in multimedia projects for editorial, corporate and nonprofit clients around the world; and in helping visual storytellers work together better with the businesses that hire them.
He serves on Blue Earth Alliance‘s advisory board, where the nonprofit partners with photographers building long-term environmental and social projects worldwide. He consults with individual photo editing and consulting clients around the world. Additionally, he was a regular contributor to Photo District News (pdn), the photography industry’s trade magazine.
Closer to home, he founded and runs OregonFocus.org, an online hub for the state’s photo community, and is a member of the Portland Art Museum’s Photography Council.
After more than a decade on the photo staff of the Statesman Journal newspaper, he left to pursue a master’s degree in Multimedia Journalism and completing a Graduate Teaching Fellowship at the University of Oregon School of Journalism and Communication. He wrote a regular column on photo editing for NGO Storytelling, worked for two years as the photo editor and content specialist at the international humanitarian organization Mercy Corps, and as a creative producer/director for Blue Chalk Media.
His photography, writing and video work have received national and regional awards from the Associated Press, the Society of Professional Journalists, Gannett Company, the Columbia Scholastic Press Association and the Oregon Newspaper Publishers Association. The USA TODAY project “Ghost Factories: Poison in the Ground,” to which he contributed photography and video, received the Alfred I. duPont-Columbia University Award for Investigative Multimedia, the Digital Storytelling and Reporting Award from the Associated Press Media Editors, the Gerald Loeb Award for Online Journalism, the National Press Club Online Journalism Award and the Barlett & Steele Award for Investigative Journalism.
You can see his work at his website or on Instagram at @yrpaltom.
Preston Gannaway, Pulitzer Prize Winner
Preston Gannaway
Preston Gannaway (b. 1977) is a Pulitzer Prize-winning independent documentary photographer and filmmaker. For 15 years, she has focused on intimate stories about American families and subcultures. Her story on the St. Pierre family, Remember Me, was awarded the 2008 Pulitzer Prize for feature photography.
Gannaway’s foundation in community photojournalism came from spending 12 years as a staff photojournalist for newspapers throughout the United States. Her work has been honored by Pictures of the Year International, NPPA’s Best of Photojournalism, Critical Mass, American Photography and Communication Arts. She’s been supported by grants from the Chris Hondros Fund Award, Documentary Project Fund and NPPA.
A native of North Carolina, Gannaway’s photographs have been exhibited around the world. She is a regular lecturer and has served as guest faculty in a variety of educational workshops.
Gannaway is based in Oakland, California, shooting editorial assignments for clients such as the New York Times, Mother Jones and AARP while also pursuing long-term projects. Her first book, Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea, was just released. See Gannaway’s work at prestongannaway.com.
Momenta Mentorship Testimonials
Don’t just take our word for it.
Hear directly from people who have worked with our consulting coaches.
Bruce Murray, Commercial Photographer.
Faculty Coach: Eva Russo.
Eva is truly amazing in every way, her teaching, business, client, and marketing expertise, organization, caring, thoughtfulness! In awe of her talent! No other class or workshop has come close to giving me the confidence and knowledge that Eva and Momenta Workshops provided in helping me believe that my dream could become a reality.
Dan Sarch, Photojournalist.
Faculty Coach: Jamie Rose.
Jamie helped me understand how to make a more effective portfolio website. I decided to meet with Jamie so she could look at my images and give me advice on what I need to improve. But she made it clear it’s not just the images that fully determine whether you are fit for a job. Your website as a whole is responsible for projecting who you are as a photographer and your professionalism. Meeting with Jamie gave me the most comprehensive analysis of my portfolio website, and gave me the necessary advice to help me improve my website on my own after the session.
Ellen Schmidt, Professional Photojournalist.
Faculty Coaches: Preston Gannaway, Jamie Rose, Allison Zaucha.
While applying for fellowships and internships, Preston, Jamie, and Allison reviewed my website. Receiving feedback from people in various corners of the industry helped me figure out what changes I needed to make to transform my portfolio into a reflection of my vision and career goals.
Luis Donoso, Aspiring Documentary Photographer.
Faculty Coaches: Preston Gannaway, Chris Anderson.
I had an editing session with Preston and Chris. Preston’s process and comments were very helpful, very insightful. Her work is so expressive and emotional. Chris speaks about photography the way Winton Marsalis speaks about jazz. (Seriously, search any interview by Winton Marsalis.) You understand what Marsalis is saying…it makes perfect sense, but you can’t repeat what he said the way he said it. And I mean this in the most complimentary and respectful way. Much respect! Patient, insightful, encouraging, thoughtful, available, fun, funny, extremely qualified, inspiring…need I go on? I can think of nothing they could do to improve the experience. They were/are amazing.
Are You Looking for the Fine Print?
Click Through the Tabs Below to Learn More!
Do I need to fill out an application to qualify?
You do not need to apply to do a consultation, but you do need fill out a Questionnaire prior to your consultation to let us know what topics, projects, or website we will be working on with you. We send you the questionnaire after we confirm your appointment and payment.
What if what I want to talk about doesn’t have anything to do with photography or video?
This is a consult aimed at giving you actionable feedback and creating strategic challenges for you. It doesn’t have to be focused on an art project or a portfolio review. It could be anything! We have done website feedback, portfolio reviews, marketing coaching, book layout feedback, and much more.
Cool! So I can have you give me feedback on my grant applications?
Yes absolutely! You’ll want to book that with Jamie or Chris likely. But yes, we’d love to help with your funding applications!
Can we do photo/web/video editing software during this too?
Yes with a caveat. We find it difficult to do a lot of software editing work on a screen share in just an hour. We can discuss your content during our meetings but we don’t recommend focusing specifically on editing content on this program. We suggest you sign up for the Portfolio Mentoring cohort or a Private Mentoring instead.
When are the sessions scheduled?
It varies based on each consultant’s schedule. We’ll work with you both to find a good time and day that fits your schedule.
What if I need to miss a 1-on-1 session?
If you cancel within 3 days of your meeting time, we can reschedule a time better suited to your schedule. If you cancel your meeting in fewer than 3 days, you will lose your appointment and have to book a new session.
Is full payment due immediately?
Yes. We will send you a link to make a payment once you call us to book your session.
Any discounts available?
Yup! We offer 10% off if you’d like to book 2 sessions or 20% off if you want to book 3+ sessions. Just give us a call at 202-688-1448, and we can get you all hooked up directly. Students get 50% off any consult, thanks to our scholarship fund.
What software or gear do I need to join?
You need a reliable computer with a video and audio camera for meetings. We also recommend this great list on how to prep for a Zoom meeting.
Project LA 2025