Through Positive Eyes, a Participatory Photojournalism Project
from the NYTimes lens blog:
The South African photojournalist Gideon Mendel spent more than a decade documenting H.I.V./AIDS in Africa. But despite his commitment and passion for the subject, he found he could not continue.“The time has come to hand over the camera,” Mr. Mendel said. “Me photographing H.I.V. positive people is just not appropriate anymore.”So Mr. Mendel, along with David Gere, a professor at the University of California, Los Angeles, created a participatory photography project that encourages people who are H.I.V. positive to tell their stories. Over the last four years, they have put cameras in the hands of 72 people living with H.I.V. in six cities across the globe. The project, called Through Positive Eyes and largely financed by the Herb Ritts Foundation and the Ford Foundation, operates in conjunction with the U.C.L.A. Art and Global Health Center, which Mr. Gere leads. It aims to dismantle stigma associated with H.I.V. using an unconventional form of photojournalism. read more