Samantha Casolari

Culture is not cancelled.

That was the message Italian-born, Brooklyn-based photographer Samantha Casolari pushed out in early April, when New York City was considered to be the “epicenter of the epicenter” of the global COVID-19 pandemic. Feeling “powerless to help” and “stuck at home with a 21-month old baby and unable to go outside due to an invisible threat,” Casolari mustered her considerable energy to call on her network of photographer friends (and their friends) to put together an artist-led, all-volunteer campaign to help patients and frontline health care workers at ground zero for the pandemic: Elmhurst Hospital Center in Queens. Located in the heart of New York’s neediest borough, Elmhurst Hospital is a safety-net hospital serving mostly low-income patients. By early April, Elmhurst had designated 95 percent of its facility to COVID-19 cases.

Inspired by a similar fund-raiser to benefit the Pope Giovanni XXIII Hospital, in Bergamo, Italy, “Pictures for Elmhurst” brought together 187 camera artists for a photography fundraiser that netted an incredible $1,380,000. The money went toward the purchase of personal protective equipment (PPE) including ventilators, N95 masks, face shields, goggles, nurse caps, shoe covers, isolation gowns, hand sanitizer, TYVEK suits, and disposable scrubs. An instance of artists organizing to take direct action, “Pictures for Elmhurst” stands out as a key example of how creative folks can, at the worst of times, rally to help neighbors and make a positive impact on society. A direct participant in the life of her adopted city, Casolari has selected to present images of her fellow New Yorkers protesting against police violence as her contribution to Life During Wartime.

— CVF, USFCAM