New print sale raises funds to resettle eight Afghan photography students

‘Hope’ is selling €80 prints from 100 photographers, including Alec Soth, Elaine Constantine, Jamie Hawkesworth, and more, in an effort to evacuate eight Afghan photography students at risk of genocide in Taliban Afghanistan

Bjork wearing white crop top with arms in the air in the rain.
Björk, 1994.
(Image credit: Stéphane Sednaoui)

‘Hope’ is a new photography print sale raising funds to evacuate and resettle eight Afghan photography students, six of whom are women and all of whom are part of the Hazara ethnic minority, at risk of genocide in Taliban Afghanistan. 

Black and white photo of three roses.

Bloom

(Image credit: Julien T Hamon)

Photographer Stefan Dotter, activist Sabrina Herzog, and the ERE Foundation have engaged 100 distinguished photographers to contribute work to the sale, including Alec Soth, Elaine Constantine, Katrien de Blauwer, Julien T Hamon, Carlijn Jacobs, and many more. 

The students’ emergency humanitarian visa applications have recently been accepted, and ‘Hope’ aims to raise enough funds to cover travel expenses (including plane tickets and PCR tests) and support the students for their first six months in their new home country as they work to find a profession and build a secure new life. The funds will also go towards future workshops for the students so that they can continue to develop their photographic practice. 

Two girls wearing berka's.

Afghan Twin Sisters

(Image credit: Juliette Cassidy)

Working in collaboration with UN agencies, Dotter and his partner photographer Farzana Wahidy have worked with the students on their photography for the past two and a half years. It is an experience that has allowed him to see first hand the struggles these artists face as they continue to create their work in an increasingly hostile environment. 

‘Art and especially photography are the enemy in any extremist-led Afghanistan,’ says Dotter. ‘We, as a community of artists, have come together to support photographers in Afghanistan. Photography as a means of self-expression and documentation is particularly essential under these circumstances and will help preserve the cultural diversity of Afghanistan.

Close up of person with a popped bubble gum bubble on mouth.

Untitled

(Image credit: Tanya & Zhenya Posternak)

The 24x30cm prints will cost €80 and can be purchased through the ERE Foundation website until 5 October 2021. The Foundation will distribute all donations to the NGOs responsible for the students’ resettlement in their new country, and all donations will be distributed equally among the young photographers as soon as they arrive there.

Black and white photo of Mohammed Ali sitting in a crowd.

Ali

(Image credit: Brad Elterman)

Flower vending machine.

Bloom Bar

(Image credit: Dylan Kronen)

Black and white photo of two boys sitting on their bicycles.

Boys in Harlem

(Image credit: Katsu Naito)

Three African men standing under a sky scraper looking up.

Man on the Moon

(Image credit: Edgar Berg)

Nude photo of woman's torso.

Untitled

(Image credit: Carlijn Jacobs)

Metal rod bent into an artistic fashion.

Son, July 2021

(Image credit: Adrian Samson)

INFORMATION

ere.earth/hope

Writer and Wallpaper* Contributing Editor

Mary Cleary is a writer based in London and New York. Previously beauty & grooming editor at Wallpaper*, she is now a contributing editor, alongside writing for various publications on all aspects of culture.