The rise of the charity print sale

What the shift to purpose-led print sales–from fine art to unsigned editions–means for collectors and artists.

A collector of photography I met while working at Magnum Photos once told me why she chose to build a collection centred on conflict photography, particularly by living photographers. Not only was she building a body of work she felt needed to exist as a document, but through her purchases she was enabling further vital work of this type. With editorial commissions not what they once were, this model represents a growing type of patronage in photography. But it isn’t just reserved for the top end of collectors, as the emergence of small print sales demonstrates.

Beyond the art gallery and auction house price tags, sales of unsigned, smaller prints at lower price points have enabled photography fans to support more work by photographers they love to do projects they care about. For example, in 2018 photographer Clémentine Schneidermann and stylist and art director Charlotte James sold prints from their project It’s Called Ffasiwn, which engages youngsters in towns in South Wales, to enable more workshops that teach young people skills like pattern-cutting and sewing, and foster self-expression and self-confidence. ‘Since we didn’t get funding at this point,’ says Schneidermann, ‘it was a very good way to finance our project as well as our workshops’.

Prestigious agency Magnum Photos, a collective owned by its photographer members, has adapted to changing times and ecommerce with $100 signed small square print sales, which has been a key source of revenue to support the ongoing work of photographers, their estates and the agency itself. In more recent years, a charity element has been included on occasion, such as the July 2020 sale in collaboration with Vogue, which donated 50% of proceeds to the NAACP.

The move aligned with an attitude shift in buyers’ considerations when making a purchase, and the emergence of charity print sales, where similarly priced small prints were donated by esteemed photographers to raise money for causes. At the start of the pandemic, during the height of the emergency in New York, Pictures for Elmhurst, featuring prints from 187 artists including the likes of Alec Soth, Jamie Hawkesworth, and Martin Parr, raised $1,380,000 for Elmhurst Hospital Center, which the team there said means, ‘Lives will be saved and staff will be protected.’

When the war started in Ukraine, Have a Butchers, a women-led creative gallery space and online concept store tapped into their network of photographers and artists to set up a charity print sale to raise funds to support Ukraine. Clémentine Schneidermann was one of the contributing photographers, submitting an image from her project with young people in the South Wales Valleys. ‘I thought it was a poetic image that people would enjoy having on their walls,’ she says. 

Have a Butchers also recently ran a sale to support Children of Gaza in response to the current conflict. Prints, costing £50 featured the work of renowned artists including Alastair Thain, Alec Soth, Conor Cunningham, Jack Davison, Michal Pudelka, and Venetia Scott, to name a few. In a statement, the gallery’s Creative Director India May said: ‘Together our small team is trying to reach as many people as possible with this print sale with the collective aim of raising funds to protect children of Gaza. No child deserves to suffer and the current crisis is heartbreaking.’

With Humans, is another print sale fundraiser hosted by 2LAB–an independent exhibition space in the heart of Catania, Sicily–to support the ONG MAP – Medical Aid for Palestinians. Mattia Stompo from 2LAB said: ‘We have always supported underprivileged communities and believe Palestinians are one of the most disadvantaged populations on the planet. Each year, we dive deep into a specific topic, hosting events and exhibitions. Freedom was the topic we have been focusing on in 2023 and we felt this fundraiser was only right.’

Another print sale dedicated to supporting Palestine is Pictures for Palestine, which is raising money for MAP too, through £100 sales of prints by the likes of Nan Goldin, Cindy Sherman, Alessandra Sanguinetti, and Brigitte Lacombe. Some artists chose to elevate the voices of Palestinians, such as renowned portrait photographer Lacombe, who selected a portrait of Edward Wadie Said, Palestinian-American academic, literary critic and political activist. While other photographers selected work that channeled a more thematic take. 

Siân Davey, chose to take part because, she says, ‘I feel powerless and heartbroken and angry – killing thousands of people in revenge for the atrocities carried out by Hamas is not a solution.’ Her image choice, from her well loved series of nudes in a garden, features a mother holding her disabled daughter. She says of her selected image, ‘the child is especially vulnerable due to her disability. It speaks of love that has no boundaries.’

For photographers whose work sells in the fine art market, both sales of fine prints for charity auctions and the smaller unsigned print sales present some challenges for photographers with a profile like Alec Soth, who gets multiple requests, many of which he takes up. In fact, his work is available in multiple print sales for Palestine currently. ‘I have to be selective,’ he says. ‘I also have to navigate the different kinds of sales – from high-profile charity auctions with framed editioned work to inexpensive sales of unsigned prints.’

On the latter, he says, ‘The first one I remember doing was for the fires in Australia. But now there are sales for most major disasters, wars, etc. Unlike the charity auctions, those prints have little bearing on my art market and mostly function as a form of goodwill for both the buyer and the artist. But I nonetheless worry about oversaturation. I don’t have answers. I just take each request as it comes.’

But as a recent article in The Art Newspaper indicates, the worlds of charity print sales and commercial fine art sales are set to continue to merge, noting shifts in attitudes to collecting and giving among younger art buyers, even at the higher end. Citing Access by Art Basel, an online-selling platform for galleries with a philanthropic component baked into the technology, it says ‘For every work sold, collectors are required to donate an extra 10% [or more] of the price of the work to either the International Committee of the Red Cross, which will provide humanitarian support for those affected by the Israel-Hamas war, or to the Miami Foundation’s Collective Impact Scheme.’

And, according to an Art & Finance Report published by Deloitte and ArtTactic, ‘Next Gen’ collectors [defined as those under age 35] are driving a shift towards purpose-led investment models. Over the past year, the number of younger collectors interested in cultural initiatives that support philanthropic endeavors has leapt from 50% to 66%.

With buyers at all ends of the spectrum looking for more purpose in their print collections, and artists and galleries themselves motivated to support causes through their most available means, charity and commerce in print sales look set to continue to align.

END