‘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.
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.
Afghan Twin Sisters, by 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.
Untitled, by 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. §
