With a refreshingly different attitude to philanthropy, Positive View has created and launched a new approach to the visual arts. This concept has been sixteen years in the refining.
A Positive View started as a personal philanthropic photography project hosted by the Saatchi Gallery in 1994, when all the donated works were sold by Sotheby's to support the Chickenshed Theatre Company for children with learning difficulties.
Diana, Princess of Wales, was that project's Royal Patron. And in 2010, when the concept was revisited, her son Prince William became Royal Patron in his turn. On this occasion, through media partnerships and a charity auction at Christie's, over £500,000 was raised to fund an innovative photography project at Crisis, the UK's leading homeless charity.
By focusing on international contemporary photography of the highest level, each exhibition and gala auction attracted major media coverage, including extensive colour features in national and international weekend supplements, art publications and consumer magazines. The Positive View exhibitions were also covered widely through broadcast channels and across international digital platforms. It was by merit of the extraordinary calibre of exhibited work that these projects received five-star ratings from many of the industry's most highly regarded critics.
On the basis of this impressive brand awareness, Positive View, was formally launched as a charity in its own right during 2012.
The Foundation’s next exhibition, “STREET LIFE”, will be held in Autumn 2015 at the Truman Galleries in the heart of London’s own vibrant street culture – Shoreditch and Hoxton.
Image © Jun Ahn