Hi, I'm Emily Pinna.
I'm a Visual Storyteller and Narrative Strategist who helps international organizations, foundations and purpose-driven institutions transform complex work into communication that people don't just understand: they remember.
For nearly two decades, I've worked in more than twenty countries with organizations including UNESCO, WFP, UNDP, UNOPS, IOM, UNICEF, UNAIDS, World Bank, GIZ and IDB, helping them communicate their impact in ways that create genuine human connection.
Increasingly, clients don't hire me simply to document their work. They ask me to help shape how that work is understood. Because the strongest communication rarely begins with a camera, it begins with better questions.
What deserves attention?
What should people remember?
How do we want them to feel?
Only then do we decide on the right medium. Sometimes it's photography. Sometimes it's a visual story, an exhibition, a billboard campaign, a publication or a communication strategy. Sometimes it's about empowering teams through my signature Phone Photography Masterclass. The medium changes. The goal doesn't.
My goal is simple: to turn causes into connections and connections into change.
Because here's the truth.
People don't connect to data. They connect to people. They connect to stories.
And the deeper the emotional connection, whether it's empathy, hope, resilience or inspiration, the stronger the engagement.
That's the thinking I bring to every project.
Based in Yaoundé, Cameroon, I work across Africa and internationally, partnering with UN agencies, development organizations, NGOs and purpose-driven businesses that believe communication should do more than inform, it should move people.
Alongside my client work, I develop practical tools that help organizations strengthen their own communication.
My Phone Photography Masterclass has already trained more than 2200 UN staff and International Organization professionals across Africa, the Middle East, the Caribbean, the Americas and beyond, helping teams create stronger, more authentic visual stories from within their own organizations.
I also create bespoke Image Banks, giving organizations an authentic alternative to generic stock photography with visual libraries that genuinely reflect the people and communities they serve.
Beyond client assignments, I develop independent initiatives that explore the power of communication to drive social change. Projects such as Planting Peace and my solo exhibition Beauty in Motion / La Beauté en Mouvement challenge conventional narratives and invite audiences to see people and places through a different lens.
My academic background combines communication, design thinking and photography:
MA in Social Design – Maryland Institute College of Art (MICA)
MA in Communication – University of Bonn, Germany
Diploma in Professional Photography – Washington School of Photography
No story is too small. No mission is too ambitious.
If you're looking for communication that creates connection, inspires action and stays with people long after they've seen it, let's start a conversation.
