Print 4 Ukraine organizer Marta Iwanek and volunteers Becca Gilgan and Eugen Sakhnenko hold photographs by Becca Gilgan, Pat Kane and Serghii Mykhalchuk.Christopher Katsarov/The Globe and Mail
The organizers: Marta Iwanek, Kyler Zeleny and Anya Chibis
The pitch: Launching Print 4 Ukraine
The reason: To raise money for charities that support Ukraine
Canadian photographer Marta Iwanek has deep roots in Ukraine and ever since Russia’s invasion she has been eager to do something to help.
A few weeks ago she started talking with other Ukrainian-Canadian photographers about how the photo community could get involved. “All of us have different pathways of connection to Ukraine, and different histories,” Ms. Iwanek said from Toronto. “But the trauma that we’re all experiencing is the trauma of generations.”
From left, Print 4 Ukraine volunteer Eugen Sakhnenko, organizer Marta Iwanek and volunteer Becca Gilgan hold photographs by Serghii Mykhalchuk, Becca Gilgan and Pat Kane.Christopher Katsarov/The Globe and Mail
The conversation led her and two others – Kyler Zeleny, Anya Chibis – to launch a fundraising project called Print 4 Ukraine. The group has set up an online gallery of donated works from more than 50 documentary, fine arts and commercial photographers from Canada and Ukraine. They’ve also selected a collection of charities that support various projects in Ukraine.
Anyone who donates at least $100 to one or more of the charities is eligible to receive a print as a thank you. The group has found a sponsor, Hamilton-based Smokestack Studios, which will cover printing costs and the first 100 donors receive free shipping (after that donors will be asked to cover shipping charges).
The fundraiser is open until the end of October and participating charities range from organizations that support Ukrainian journalists to charities focused on helping veterans, rebuilding neighbourhoods and reducing barriers faced by the LGBTQ community.
Ms. Iwanek, 32, said the group is hoping the event will raise $10,000 as well as awareness for the charities. She added that like a lot of Ukrainian-Canadians she has a daily routine of following news updates and checking in on loved ones. “And so then when you see these donations come in to support Ukraine, everything just feels a little better,” she said. “Every donation counts.”
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Canadian Derby in Edmonton on Aug. 25, 2018.AMBER BRACKEN
Fire from a Russian missile explosion in a residential area near Kyiv, Ukraine on March 17.Serghii Mykhalchuk
Circle Study #55 Cosmos & Plums.Kristin Sjaarda
A Ukrainian volunteer poses for a portrait with a scarf "Honor to Ukraine" at the headquarters of Crimean Blockade at Chongar on Nov. 25, 2015.Emine Ziyatdinova
Field after harvest, along highway 21 near Fox Creek, SK, in 2017.Kyler Zeleney
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Paul Waldie