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Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter.
Pictures for St Petrocs
“I have a lifelong love for Cornwall and have always enjoyed the beautiful elements that it gives. It is like a magical kingdom,” says photographer and HTSI contributor Cathy Kasterine. “But like the rest of the country, it has issues – and homelessness is one of them.” Kasterine’s initiative, Pictures For St Petrocs, is a print sale for a local charity providing essential services, from healthcare to counselling and accommodation, for people experiencing homelessness. “I contacted all the photographers I know who are connected to Cornwall and the South West,” she says of the talent on board. The offering includes Angelo Pennetta and Ben Weller’s sweeping landscapes and Venetia Scott’s tender image of the horses of Bodmin. Inès Cross
David Corio for Rethink Mental Illness
London-born photographer David Corio built a career on his making intimate photographs of legendary musicians. A selection of his portraits spanning six decades is now being sold by Print Matters, with 20 per cent of proceeds going to Rethink Mental Illness. The mental-health charity offers services such as advice helplines, housing support and employment training across England. Photographs show Fela Kuti in a trance-like state at a packed Brixton Academy concert and the hip-hop group De La Soul shot on the street for NME in 1993. True to his relaxed approach, Corio was unfazed when the group arrived for the shoot, hauled him into a minivan and drove to West 125th Street, jumping out next to the Apollo Theatre. “Its signage worked perfectly and the whole shoot was done in 15 minutes,” he says. Shea Ferguson
James Barnor: Iconic Photographs 1950s-1970s
The 96-year-old Ghanaian photographer James Barnor is known for his shots of post-independence Accra and swinging-’60s London. Arts charity Autograph is now celebrating his legacy with a sale of prints dating from the 1950s-’70s, with profits benefiting the charity’s work supporting artists who are exploring race and social justice in their work. “Barnor saw African modernity emerge,” says Mark Sealy, director of Autograph. “Those times were optimistic, and his subjects knew it.” You can see that joy in the 1971 photograph of an Accra shop assistant holding various coloured water bottles (£5,400). Others show two friends dressed for a church celebration in 1970s Accra (£3,000) and Muhammad Ali training for a fight at Earls Court (£3,000). All sales will support London-based Autograph’s work running school programmes that fill curriculum gaps, holding creative workshops for disabled children, and commissioning new work from local and international artists. Constance Ayrton
Millie Brown for The Zaynab Project
British performance artist Millie Brown launched her print sale in aid of victims of the war in Gaza in a bid to show what collective action can achieve. “When we act in unity, our work carries a weight beyond art itself,” she says. Her first batch of prints included works from Gaza-born artist Hazem Harb, Turner Prize winner Martin Creed and the painter Tali Lennox. The second batch, just launched, will include work by photographers Nick Knight and Stefan Heyne and Brown herself. All of the profits from the sale will go to The Zaynab Project, which is working to deliver emergency food and medical aid to vulnerable families. “As an artist, it means a lot to be able to actually see the difference we can make,” says Brown. Baya Simons
The Syrian Refugee Relief Fund
This charity is marking its 10th anniversary with the Gallery of Hope, an online exhibition of artworks by children at the Al Amal School in the Mahmoudli camp, which the charity has funded since 2022. The coloured-pencil drawings, available as prints, depict everything from flowers and rainbows to school buildings and playgrounds. “A key theme the children referenced when asked about their work was happiness,” says co-founder Will Wintercross. “And that is what we want to provide them through education.” The £250 price tag will cover the cost of educating a child displaced by the war in Syria for an entire year. “In a sense, commemorating our 10th anniversary is bittersweet,” he continues. “Our continued existence underscores the need for our continued support.” Marion Willingham
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