CHRISTIE'S PHOTOJOURNALISM AUCTION TO BENEFIT CHILDREN OF ANTON HAMMERL, KILLED IN LIBYA

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

First-ever auction of contemporary photojournalism prints at Christie’s to be held May 15 in New York to support family of freelance photographer Anton Hammerl killed in Libya

Acclaimed photographers donate prints to honor the memory of Anton Hammerl and support his family. Christiane Amanpour of ABC News/CNN will host the evening.

New York, NY – May 7, 2012 – Non-profit Friends of Anton is organizing the first auction of contemporary photojournalism prints ever held at Christie’s, on May 15th 2012 in New York to raise funds for the three young children of freelance photojournalist Anton Hammerl who was killed by the Libyan regime last year.

On April 5, 2011 South African freelance photographer Anton Hammerl went missing after coming under fire from Gaddafi loyalists. For 44 days his family was told repeatedly by the Libyan regime that he was alive and well. The truth is he was left to die in the desert. A campaign is currently underway to locate and recover his remains.

Anton Hammerl working in Brega, 1 April 2011.
Photo: Unai Aranzadi.

2011 was one of the worst years for photojournalism with 3 deaths in addition to Anton’s, followed by yet another in 2012. Besides raising funds for 11-year-old Aurora, 7-year-old Neo and 1-year-old baby Hiro, the evening aims to highlight the sacrifices made by photographers – particularly freelancers – who assume great risks to bring back images to agencies, magazines, publishers and readers worldwide, often with little backup.

Christiane Amanpour of ABC News and CNN will host the event during which signed prints by some of the world’s leading photographers – including Sebastiao Salgado, Alec Soth, Tim Hetherington, Platon, Gilles Peress, Christopher Anderson, Ed Kashi, Yuri Kozyrev, Larry Fink, Kenneth Jarecke, Lynsey Addario, Susan Meiselas, Ron Haviv, David Burnett, Joao Silva, Bruce Davidson, Samuel Aranda, Roger Ballen and Vincent Laforet – will be auctioned off Christie’s Senior Vice President Lydia Fenet.

“The upcoming ‘Friends of Anton’ auction at Christie’s is a milestone in contemporary photojournalism”, says New York-based collector Alan L. Paris, “As a collector of photojournalism, I am particularly excited because this is the first ever auction dedicated to contemporary photojournalism. The contributors are top notch, the photos are of the highest quality, the material is fresh to the marketplace, and it is all for a very good cause.”

- Christie’s is located at 20 Rockefeller Plaza, New York, NY 10020.
- Auction: 6:30pm, May 15th, 2012.
- 501c(3) Reporters Without Borders is the fiscal sponsor of this all-volunteer evening, which is made possible by the generous assistance of Christie’s, Innovative Philanthropy and Edelman.