Category: Health
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Through Positive Eyes – Durban 2
Elizabeth (See previous post for the background to this project) Elizabeth is currently presenting her work at the Durban Art Gallery as part of the Through Positive Eyes show, coinciding with the International AIDS Conference. The show has been designed by Stan Pressner to enable the participants to tell their stories and interact with projections…
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Caesarian
Seven people go into a room and eight people come out. Anaesthetists don’t just work with unconscious patients. This expectant mother is being guided through a magic trick. Sitting beside her, the anaesthetist asks questions, tells her what is happening, and what she can expect to feel and hear. His team help bridge the gap between her…
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Patient Experience
From my own experiences, I’m aware of the intimacy and vulnerability in handing yourself over completely into the care of someone else. Everyone remembers having a general anaesthetic. They won’t remember the operation; but they’re likely to tell their friends all about the process of slipping into unconsciousness. The anaesthetist is their guide and protector…
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Anaesthetists
Consciousness is a tricky subject, debated by philosophers and scientists for hundreds of years. But anaesthetists turn it on and off and otherwise manipulate it every day. Photographing people losing consciousness is an odd thing. Like a benign and reversible death. One moment they’re there talking as I snap away and the next minute they’re…
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Grazing
In the UK the word ‘grazing’ brings to mind lush green fields. In Madhupur village near Agra we followed donkey owner Daudayal as he took his family’s donkeys to the only grazing available to them. The land doubles as a latrine for the entire village, which lacks basic sanitation. Seeing donkeys eating human excrement turned…
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Through Positive Eyes Haiti
Last December I returned from helping to run the Haiti chapter of this international arts and advocacy project, in which HIV+ve participants photograph their lives. I teach photography and co-edit the work with the participants, alongside Gideon Mendel. This is the eighth city the project has worked in to challenge the stigma of HIV. Here’s a…
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Through Positive Eyes in Bangkok
I’ve just returned from helping to run the Thai chapter of this international arts and advocacy project, in which HIV+ve participants photograph their lives. This is the seventh city the project has worked in to challenge the stigma of HIV.Here’s a preview of some of the work which will be appearing on the project website: http://throughpositiveeyes.org/…
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A complicated story about donkeys and people
Many NGOs develop problematic ‘mission creep’ as they attempt to burrow down and address the causes – rather than just the symptoms – of the problems they were set up to tackle. A case study from the work supported by the Donkey Sanctuary in Romania lays bare the dilemma; sticking to a clear mission can…
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A simple story about donkeys and people
With thanks to Mwende, Beth, Lydia, Jadida & The Donkey Sanctuary Aid policy and interventions can raise very complex issues but in drought ridden Mwingi in NE Kenya the role of donkeys is really very simple. Without donkeys, people and their livestock cannot survive. Donkeys form the vital final link in the distribution of water,…
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Through Positive Eyes in Mumbai
I’ve just returned from helping to run the India chapter of this international project in which HIV+ve participants photograph their lives. Look out for the full stories on the project website: http://throughpositiveeyes.org/ Anthony One of 14 HIV+ve participants, Anthony rendered his life story in a series of paper cut-out shadow photographs. Working until four in the…
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Through Positive Eyes in New York Times
The latest round of Through Positive Eyes – see post from July 17th – has been featured in the New York Times. http://lens.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/07/27/fighting-hiv-stigma-photo-by-photo/
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Through Positive Eyes – HIV in Washington DC
I’ve just returned from helping to run the latest round of this international project in which HIV+ve participants photograph their lives. Around the world—in half a dozen countries, on five continents—HIV-positive people open their lives and share their stories. Through their own photographs, in their own voices, they teach the importance of compassion and…