Photographers, collectives and organisations join forces to fundraise for Ukraine

Daring Youth © YuilaKrivich.

Following Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, many in the photography industry are collaborating to raise money for the Ukrainian victims of war

The ongoing war in Ukraine has sparked global outrage. Since Russia launched its full-scale invasion on 24 February, the crisis has displaced more than 1.7 million civilians and the death toll continues to rise. Oil prices have soared to a 13-year high, and the Russian troops’ relentless attacks threaten to shake western democracy. Watching the crisis unfold from afar, our screens and feeds filled with the chaos, many people are feeling helpless. 

In an attempt to take meaningful action, several individuals, collectives and organisations within the photography industry are holding print sales to raise money towards the crisis. Since launching on Wednesday 02 March, Dalston-based creative space Have a Butchers has so far sold over 1000 prints at £50 each, raising in excess of £50,000 for the Ukraine Crisis Appeal by the British Red Cross. It hopes to double this before the sale ends this Friday. Almost 100 photographers – including Alec Soth, Christopher Nunn, Jack Davison, Craig Easton, and Maisie Cousins – have donated their work to the cause. 

“We work with a lot of young people within our Dalston community and we know that so many of us are looking for ways to help within our own means,” says Amy Louise Ryall, senior producer at Have a Butchers. “Our aim is to provide some relief to the people of Ukraine and to raise funds as quickly as possible.” All prints are priced at £50, and are printed in collaboration with Hempstead May.

Theprintspace also launched a sale yesterday. Running for another nine days, Art4Ukraine is raising money for War Child and Choose Love. The sale features work by Ukrainian photographers – including Yulia Krivich, Dimitri Bogachuk, Elena Subach, Ira Lupu, and Yelena Yemchuk – as well as Martin Parr, Vanessa Winship, George Georgiou, and Simon Roberts. All works are priced at £100, including postage, for an A4 print. 

“The only thing I can say at the moment is we all need to stand up and stop this war, this insane invasion of a peaceful country,” writes Ukraine-born, US-based photographer Yelena Yemchuk. “Ukrainians are fighting for their freedom and the freedom of all people. Support Ukraine, speak out, donate.”

Many photographers have launched sales independently too. Last week, Jörg Colberg released a series of Risograph prints from his book Vaterland, and Aria Shahrokhshahi initiated an editioned print sale in collaboration with @thephotoparlour and @takeiteasylab. 

Last Friday, Jim Mortram organised a one-day-only Twitter-based sale through his platform Photo Print Day. Any maker could take part by simply using the hashtag #photoprintday. Prints were purchased by directly messaging the maker, and providing proof of a minimum donation of £10/$10/€10 to a chosen charity. Participating photographers included Iain Sarjeant, Marc Davenant, and Jo Howell, as well as photobook publisher Café Royal Books.

“In a time that we all feel so impotent to help and horrified by the events in Ukraine, this is a way for the entire photo community to collectively help, to show solidarity,” says Mortram. 

Further resources to understand the war and support the people of Ukraine can be found here. We will continue to update this information over the coming weeks. If you have any additional resources, suggestions or comments to share, please send them to editorial@bjphoto.co.uk.