No one could have predicted a couple of months ago that Queens, New York, would become one of the epicenters of the worldwide coronavirus outbreak. With infection rates soaring, a death toll mounting and the healthcare system under extraordinary pressure, Queens’ Elmhurst Hospital Center has taken it upon itself to start a fundraiser with proceedings going to the purchase of live-saving equipment for the hospital.
The medical center has currently dedicated 95% of its operations to caring for COVID-19 patients. “As of early April, patients and difficult outcomes have skyrocketed,” says a spokesperson at Elmhurst Hospital Center in a press statement. “This has taken a devastating toll on frontline staff. In addition to the sheer exhaustion of caring for so many critically ill patients, our doctors and nurses fear for their own safety and that of their families. Many are also experiencing moral distress in the face of so many lost — in many instances, with family members never having a chance to say goodbye.”
Inspired by a similar fundraiser for the Pope John XXIII Hospital in Bergamo, Italy – which raised €727,600 in just 10 days – and dismayed by the devastating situation currently unfolding at Elmhurst Hospital, the New York photography community has come together to help Elmhurst Hospital Center. Spearheaded by Italian-born photographer Samantha Casolari, it has launched a photo print sale fundraiser which runs online till April 20th, featuring prints priced at $150 ((plus $5 shipping within the U.S. or $15 internationally) from 95 New York-based photographers.
The list of contributing artists includes many of the top photographers working in New York today, who have also contributed to i-D over the last couple of years: Tyler Mitchell, Stef Mitchell, Hart Lëshkina, Mary Manning, Ethan James Green, among others.
All prints will ship when it is safe to resume business. Each print is an open edition, limited to the duration of the fundraiser. Visit Pictures For Elmhurst for more information.
