Print Aid - For Japan

How to help reach out to those affected by the Japanese earthquake? Here's one response that's as creative as we've come to expect from this city: Photographer Pete Carr explains the idea behind Print Aid...

Faced with one of the world’s most devastating natural disasters, Liverpool’s creative community has wasted little time in devising equally creative ways to reach out and help: with concerts, exhibitions and website appeals all doing their bit to help those affected by the Japanese earthquake and tsunami.

One that particularly caught our eye is the Print Aid project: set up by Liverpool photographers Pete Carr, Matt Thomas and Dan King, and supported by a host of likeminded local snappers, including Mark McNulty, (SevenStreets ‘Liverpool Looked Like’ photographer) Jane MacNeil, and Sakura.

The concept is simple - buy a gorgeous limited edition print from the Print Aid website for just £10 - and you’ll be directly helping raise money for those affected.

“A few months ago I sold a print in a charity auction for £2,000. The profits went to a charity that works with kids, and it made me realise that I can do more with my camera than take nice photos,” photographer Pete Carr says (image r).

“Fellow photographer Matt Thomas (pic top) got in touch on Twitter and suggested a few of us group together and sell some prints. Dan King (pic below) also thought this was a great idea and the team was formed. Within a week the site was built and populated by donations from friends and photographers we admired from around the globe. A day after launching we had emails from photographers around the world wanting to donate to the site.”

The result is the site - and the project - called Print Aid to raise money for the British Red Cross, and their work in Japan.

All artists involved - from Liverpool, Scandinavia and the US currently - have given their prints, and time, free: so that every penny, after printing and postage costs, goes directly to the victims of the Tohoku earthquake.

“The project’s going great,” Carr says. “We’ve had an amazing amount of support from photographers over the past few days. Since launching on Thursday we’ve raised over £200 and sold over 25 prints. Our tweets have even been re-tweeted by Wired.

“The site is going from strength to strength with amazing photographers coming on board daily. We’re especially lucky to have such great names as Scanderberg & Sauer, Mark McNulty, Rosie Hardy, Sakura, Sven Seenbeck and of course the SevenStreets street photographer Jane MacNeil.

“We’ve got a huge backlog of submissions to work through and a good number of stunning new photos to upload over the next few days. Its been great to see people submit their work to this cause. We couldn’t have done it without their help.”

“While I’m excited and passionate about driving the site forward its only for one simple reason. To raise money for the victims of the earthquake,” Carr says, adding that, over the next few days, the project will feature the work of photographers based out of Japan, too.

The shots? They’re stunning - whether illustrations, images of our home city, or photographs of other corners of the globe - they’ll be a striking addition to any home! The perfect Mother’s Day gift, we’d say…It’s a rare chance indeed to be able to grab a limited edition print from one of our most in-demand photographers. So do like us, and buy a few while you can.

But, more than anything, the site proves that a good photographer can do more than capture the world around us - occasionally, they can do their bit in helping to rescue it, too.

http://theprintaidproject.com

www.twitter.com/printaidproject

www.facebook.com/pages/The-Print-Aid-Project/136693569732523