The photographers fundraising for Medical Aid in Palestine
- Text by Ben Smoke
- Photography by Courtesy of 2Lab
Father and Son duo Carmelo and Mattia Stompo set up 2LAB, an independent photography exhibition space in Catania, Sicily almost a decade ago. The project presents exhibitions, events, talks and workshops focusing on emerging documentary photography, with the concept of ‘Freedom’ being the topic they’d been focusing on through 2023.
“The injustice that Palestinian people live everyday is unbearable and overwhelming. We feel lucky to be on the other side of the Mediterranean, but we’ve always been close to the Palestinian cause.” Mattia, who works at TCO, the agency which owns Huck, tells me. “We - like many - have been shocked by the cruelty that’s happening, and we wanted to use all the negative emotions we’re feeling to help in any way that we can.”
On October 7th 2023 Hamas attacked southern Israel, killing 1400 people and taking around 250 hostage. In the aftermath Israel began military action in the densely populated Gaza Strip, which has been under blockade since 2007.
The strip, which is home to around 2.3 million people, of which around 50% are children, has been under constant bombardment for the last month. Hamas run health ministry reports that over 10,000 people have been killed, with over 4,100 children in that number.
“We have always supported underprivileged communities and believe Palestinians are one of the most disadvantaged populations on the planet so we felt this fundraiser was only right.” Stompo says of the With Humans project which is selling prints to raise funds for Medical Aid Palestine.
“We're offering a selection of photographs from our incredible community of artists. The response from everyone has been amazing, we received so many images in less than 48h. The catalog has 55 images from 55 different photographers. We're grateful for all our friends in the photography world. There are a few Huck friends as well, including Theo McInnes, Glauco Canalis, Ossi Piispanen and Eleni Albarosa.”
The fundraiser, which started 20 days ago has seen over 50 prints sold so far.
The print sale ends this Sunday, 12th November.
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