More than 100 photographers from all over the world had one goal in the summer of 2020: to give hope to Africa’s animals, nature and people in times of Corona. This is the idea of printsforwildlife.org in short. The world’s best wildlife and ‘rather’ small local photographers contribute their strongest images to help with this print fundraiser campaign during the COVID-19 pandemic. The images were sold as limited FineArt prints for the good cause – for a total of 660,000 dollars. Hahnemühle supported the project with the new and award-winning Hahnemühle Hemp FineArt paper and an additional donation from their own Green Rooster environmental initiative.
Marion Payr, Prints for Wildlife Initiator
Pie Aerts, Prints for Wildlife Initiator
Photographers Pie Aerts (The Netherlands) and Marion Payr (Austria) initiated “Prints for Wildlife”: “Just because we cannot travel to these parks because of Corona does not mean that we cannot provide meaningful support. That’s why we have joined forces with dedicated and generous international wildlife photographers for an extraordinary limited-edition fundraising campaign to support local communities and wildlife reserves during the COVID-19 pandemic”.
For $100 each, “Prints for Wildlife” had sold over 6000 collectors’ prints within a month. 660,000 dollars were raised. Hahnemühle donated a further €10,000 from its environmental initiative Green Rooster. All proceeds go to African Parks, a non-profit organisation that manages 18 nature reserves in 11 African countries. “Thanks to this incredible support, we are able to protect biodiversity – from vast tropical forests to brilliant blue seascapes – to prevent poaching and illegal trade in wildlife and to protect species at their source,” said Lindsey Watcham of the African Parks Network.
All FineArt Photo Prints were made by Gallery Color – a professional, Dutch printing lab – on the new Hahnemühle Hemp paper which is made from one of the oldest and most diverse natural fibres in the world. “It is the perfect paper for the incredibly gripping and emotional animal photographs that have been sent to donors around the world. We support the sustainability idea of the ‘Prints for Wildlife’ initiative to protect endangered species and habitats in Africa. Our hemp paper and our Green Rooster donation contribute to the great international success of the project,” said Eveline Eisermann, responsible for marketing and communication of the Digital FineArt papers at Hahnemühle.
The “Prints for Wildlife” project ran from 26 July to 26 August 2020 and will continue because of its great success. For the latest information visit printsforwildlife.org
Print for Wildlife Leopard ©Pie Aerts
Giraffes ©Marion Payr for Prints for Wildlife
About Hahnemühle
Hahnemühle is considered the inventor of Digital FineArt papers for inkjet printing. As a pioneer, the oldest German artist paper manufactory has been refining its real artist papers for photography and art reproductions for more than 15 years.
The papers – manufactured for more than 430 years with characteristic craftsmanship – receive a special coating, without influencing the noble haptics of the papers. This inkjet coating allows prints with pin-sharp details, in both rich colour and deep blacks. All papers have excellent aging resistance. The Hahnemühle Digital FineArt Collection offers more than 20 different papers, while the Hahnemühle Photo Range is comprised of eight media.
Hahnemühle has a worldwide reputation as a ‘brand of the century’ among artists, photographers, museums, galleries and collectors.
Headquartered in Dassel, Southern Lower Saxony; with offices in the United Kingdom, France, USA and China; the company employs more than 200 people worldwide.
With its “Green Rooster” initiative Hahnemühle has been supporting both regional and international environmental protection projects since 2008, including reforestation, animal welfare and environmental education programmes. The long-established company produces papers in a protected natural reserve under strict environmental regulations and makes an important contribution to environmental and climate protection around the globe.
About Prints for Wildlife
A group of renowned international wildlife photographers have joined forces in an unprecedented fundraiser with FineArt prints to support local communities and wildlife in some of Africa’s most important protected areas and in response to the devastating COVID 19 pandemic.
When reports of the impact of COVID-19 and travel restrictions on ecotourism, local economies and conservation throughout Africa arrived, two photographers from Austria and the Netherlands decided to take action. Marion Payr and Pie Aerts began to approach a wide network of wildlife photographers to launch an unprecedented campaign ‘Prints for Wildlife’ to raise money to protect these wild ecosystems. Prints for Wildlife has supported some of the world’s best wildlife photographers from over 20 different countries in Africa, Europe, North America, Australia and India. The initiators want to continue the campaign.
