This project was started in the hopes of creating a visual for our clients, and for the public, highlighting those brave individuals that are living successfully with HIV. It is important to commemorate and pay tribute to those we have lost along the way. However, there is so much more to life than this disease! Several clients of the Damien Center have stepped forward to tell their stories, and share how they are living with this disease with dignity. Pictures of our clients, along with their life stories, are hanging on the walls of the Damien Center, a constant testament to all that walk through our doors of how life goes on!
This is an ongoing project for the Center, one in which our staff and our clients are excited to see grow. The Center's photographer, Claire Middleton, was instrumental in driving this project's overall success. We are thankful to have her passion and her support.
My vision for this project was to picture people living with HIV/AIDS, not dying from it.
I wanted to show the many different faces of HIV/AIDS; faces you may have seen at the grocery store or passed on the street; faces that show dignity and courage and humor despite the discrimination they experience because of having the virus.
I commend the courage of the people who agreed to be a part of this project. They welcomed me, a total stranger, into their homes and told me their stories with humility and grace. They trusted me to take their pictures and represent them with dignity.
I hope to continue working with the Center, in particular expanding this gallery of heroes so they can give inspiration and hope to others with the virus.
