Over the past decade there has been a major global photo-storytelling project by 130 people living with HIV and AIDS that successfully set out to de-stigmatize the disease.  All of them have participated in workshops led by South African photographer Gideon Mendel, with photo educator Crispin Hughes, and David Gere, director of the Art & Global Health Center at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA.  

The result is  THROUGH POSITIVE EYES which features people living with HIV and AIDS, many of them picking up cameras for the first time in their lives,  to paint a vivid picture of the AIDS epidemic. It is  an extremely moving testament to the resilient spirit of those facing the challenges of HIV.

The project has grown, now encompasses ten cities in eight countries on five continents., and shows how the enduring stigma associated with HIV and AIDS is so trenched that it is a major roadblock to both prevention and treatment in so many communities

The project that originated as part of the global MAKE ART/STOP AIDS initiative gave birth to a touring Exhibition ….currently at Fowler Museum at UCLA.. 

Now there is a new book about to be published by Aperture Through Positive Eyes edited by Gideon Mendel and David Gere. And these are few of the powerful images from it.

Through Positive Eyes
Edited by Gideon Mendel and David Gere
Foreword by Richard Gere
Poem by Mary Bowman
Published by Aperture Press
availability: coming soon