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Artists raise funds selling donated photos to support charities
Dr Casey Orr (pictured), a Senior Lecturer in The Leeds School of Arts at Leeds Beckett University, is part of TRACE Photography Collective which produced an online art fair lasting four weeks.
Photos were donated by international photographers including an award-winning portrait of Sir Ian McKellan by Frederic Aranda and the first self-isolating print from Martin Parr taken on the day of lockdown.
These A4 prints cost £50 each and have been sold to buyers worldwide including New York University.
The arts collective project was set up to raise money for national homeless charity Crisis, and Refuge which provides specialist support for women and children experiencing domestic violence.
It was led by artist Sian Bonnell, artist and printer Charlie Meecham, and producer Tracy Marshall who wanted to give back to those in need.
Casey, a Graphic Design Senior Lecturer at LBU, donated her own work, Lutino Indian Ringneck Parrot, from her 2007 Comings & Goings series which was exhibited on both the inside and outside of HM Prison Leeds, in the hope of prompting ideas about communication and about breaking down barriers within communities.
She said: “During this crisis it is easy to acknowledge that working from home and lockdown can and does cause stress and hardship of varying levels. Imagine then what it must mean for those who have no home or those for whom home is an unsafe space.
“Covid-19 takes no hostages and right now the charities Crisis and Refuge are working hard to support the people in our society who have no home and who are the victims of domestic abuse, for whom this virus has made their situations so much worse.
“Many photographers have generously donated their work and the response has been unbelievable. We still have over a week left and there is some stunning work there.”
The work has been donated by more than 50 artists including Martin Parr, Helen Sear, Hannah Starkey, Sian Davey, Peter Mitchell, Daniel Meadows, Susan Derges, Edmund Clark, Julia Fullerton-Batten, Jem Southam, Brian Griffin, Vanessa Winship, George Georgiou, Jillian Edelstein, Judy Harrison, Tom Hunter, Joy Gregory, Tish Murtha, Clare Strand, Nigel Shafran, and Ken Grant.
Each photo was printed on Innova Cotton Rag and all proceeds went to Refuge and Crisis Charities, split equally.
The online fair is now closed but for more information about future print sales, visit www.traceportfolio.com.