jennilee:Print Sale Supports Liberian Beekeepers - PDN MagazineA...

jennilee:

Print Sale Supports Liberian Beekeepers - PDN Magazine

A group of 20 photographers, led by Andrew Querner and Nich McElroy, are selling prints to raise money for a unique program that trains beekeepers in Liberia. Dubbed the Liberia Pure Honey Project, the fundraising effort benefits Vancouver, Canada-based non-governmental organization Universal Outreach Foundation.

Querner traveled to Liberia with the organization in 2014, volunteering to document their work there. Just after Querner left Liberia, he says, the Ebola epidemic broke out, “disabling an already burdened local economy and severely limiting people’s ability to make a living.”

Querner and McElroy created the exhibition and print sale because they wanted to help “fund the expansion of an already successful beekeeper training program,” Querner told PDN via email. “Empowering local farmers with beekeeping knowledge has led to the birth of a honey industry; in the wake of the Ebola crisis, we felt that fostering this kind of grassroots development was a response that considered the need for sustainable social and economic enterprise.”

Querner and McElroy reached out to photographers they knew and asked that they donate prints for the fundraising effort. Lindsay D’Addato, Jennilee Marigomen, Grant Harder and Birthe Piontek are among the 20 participating photographers.

Querner says he’s been “overwhelmed with the response from both the artists involved and our print buying audience…. I have always admired photography that works in service of social justice and while my work doesn’t fall into that category, the proceeds from this project, in the hands of Universal Outreach Foundation, will have a material impact. For that, I’m really pleased with the results and grateful to all involved—it was a true group effort.”

Participating photographers are selling digital C-prints for $100, in editions of ten. The exhibition and print sale end on March 31, 2015. For more information visit Liberia Pure Honey.

- See more at: http://ift.tt/19VfNd3

Photo: Ali Bosworth, Untitled