HÀ NỘI — An art photography project, I Femme, has been launched to help poor girls access education and to fund schools for poor children in Việt Nam, India and Nepal.

The project was initiated by Vietnamese photographer Việt Hà Trần and Ukrainian fashion brand Simplifi’s co-founder Tetyana Kretova.

The team has raised EUR10,885 (US$12,929) via the GoFundMe website within one month of launching the project. They aim to raise EUR100,000 ($114,338) in the first year.

Driven by the passion to change the world, coupled with a strong interest in art and fashion, the initiative, which aims to empower women, is slated to launch in late 2017 in cities such as Madrid, Moscow, London, Paris and Tokyo.

The photographs that Hà will create for I Femme will paint the picture of modern, independent, liberal, successful women of the 21st century who are the owners of their own destiny as they strive to retain their cultural identity.

These limited edition photographs, to be sold through exhibitions, auctions, and cultural events that will take place around the world, can be acquired by art collectors, galleries, museums and advocates of charity projects.

The money from the artwork sales will be donated directly to the non-profit organisation Room to Read, which helps build schools for poor children in Asian developing countries and provides scholarships for girls with no access to education.

Room to Read, which is headquartered in San Francisco, US, is a leading non-profit focused on girls’ education and children’s literacy in Asia and Africa. The Founders of I Femme believe that Room to Read’s vision best fits the concept of their project.

Hà is a Hà Nội-born and Madrid-based fine art photographer known for her emotionally intense, compelling photographs of women. Her art emphasises fantasy and imagination as a source of aesthetic experience. Her work has appeared in renowned magazines, including Vogue Italia, Vanity Fair France, The Times of India, as well as at Saatchi Gallery London, and has been auctioned by Christie’s Hong Kong for charity.

She is listed as global artist by Artprice, a world leader in art market information, and represented by Art+Commerce/Vogue Italia, a large global photo agency based in New York. — VNS