Carolyn Drake at SIX.TWO Editions

In response to the devastating earthquakes that hit Turkey and Syria starting in the early morning hours of February 6th, 200 photographers have come together for a ten-day print sale fundraiser, SIX.TWO Editions. The campaign is led by a group of artists based in the US who have ties to Turkey. Dozens of today’s leading voices have contributed prints to this print sale fundraiser for earthquake relief. 

As of this writing, the death toll in the aftermath of the earthquakes has risen to more than 54,000. Millions of people have been displaced, with many seeking emergency shelter in tents or container housing. 

The organizers of SIX.TWO Editions—Ebru Yildiz, Civan Özkanoglu, Devin Yalkin, Mitchell King, and Yeliz Secerli—have channeled their grief and an initial sense of powerlessness into action. After contacting more photographers, the roster grew to include hundreds. 

The participating photographers chose the prints themselves, so each selection carries personal meaning to that artist. Perhaps one common thread woven throughout the collection is a sense of hope, as told through portraits of children, people in motion, and birds in flight. In a photograph by Carolyn Drake, Çagan Sekercioglu, a conservation ecologist, is just about to release a Red-backed Shrike at a bird-banding station at a small village in Turkey. Elsewhere, Devin Oktar Yalkin and Paolo Pellegrin photograph birds soaring through endless skies. 

The creators of SIX.TWO Editions were inspired, in part, by two recent fundraising efforts: Pictures for Elmhurst, which raised $1.38 million for Elmhurst Hospital Center in Queens at the start of the Covid crisis, and States of Change, which raised funds to fight voter suppression in 2020. Once they started reaching out to friends and colleagues, the campaign started to take shape. 

SIX.TWO Editions has partnered with Turkish Philanthropy Funds (TPF) to distribute funds to NGOs working on the ground in areas affected by the earthquakes. The list of organizations can be found via the SIX.TWO Editions website, and additional organizations could be added in the coming days. 

All prints included in the SIX.TWO Editions print sale fundraiser for earthquake relief are available for just ten days, with the sale closing on March 20th at midnight EST. Each is priced at just $150. Light Work will be producing the prints, sized at 10×12”. Shipping is available worldwide, so order your prints and show your support today!

Devin Oktar Yalkin at SIX.TWO Editions
Vanessa Winship at SIX.TWO Editions

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