Photographers Selling Prints for Hurricane Harvey Relief

Zach Lipson, a 32 year old photographer from Chicago, has brought together an exciting group of Instagram photographers to raise money for Hurricane Harvey relief in Houston. With 100% of proceeds going towards J.J. Watt's Houston Flood Relief Fund, Prints for Houston is worth checking out to see some fantastic photos and contribute to a worthwhile cause at the same time.

Lipson has spent the last few years networking on Instagram and shooting with other professionals across the country. After Harvey hit, a friend of his who owns a leather goods store in Oregon posted on Instagram that she would be donating all proceeds from the next week's worth of sales to the victims. This inspired Lipson to act:

I had built up a large following on instagram and I began to feel that I had a responsibility to use it in situations where it could benefit people in need. I came up with the idea to sell my prints and donate the proceeds to the hurricane victims. I then started thinking about the power of my network, all those people that I’d met over the years, many of which had much larger influence then me, and what we could accomplish if we all did this together. I also realized that if I partnered with a printing company to contribute all printing services, I could donate 100% of the sales directly to the victims. And thus, Prints For Houston was born.

Lipson contacted a New York photographer he knew named Phil Yoon who works for a company called Honest Frames which offers printing and framing services. Together they started reaching out to their network of photography friends to put together a group. After researching funds, the group decided that Hoston Texan football player J.J. Watt's fund was the right choice for them. Watt started with a goal of raising $200,000. At the time of this article, his fund is at $31 million and counting. 

Each photographer provides a few images, sold for $50 each. Honest Frames provides the print services for free. 100% of the proceeds go to Watt's fund. The photographers have been promoting the website through their social media channels. At present, they have raised $12,500 and are considering ways to expand the project to other causes. 

Check out Prints for Houston to see some striking images from a talented and dedicated community of photographers and support a good cause.

Images used with the permission of Zach Lipson/Prints for Houston. Lead image by Aneesh Kothari.