Wednesday, March 4, 2009

This is my "Dream Assignment" through Lenovo and Microsoft... the winner receives 50k for a photography assignment...

Click here to vote... http://www.nameyourdreamassignment.com/the-ideas/rachaelsudul/the-new-face-of-aids-in-america/


The New Face of AIDS in America

I want to capture the new face of AIDS in America; it is beautiful, heartbroken, strong, defiant, frustrated, and she is a woman. AIDS is not secluded to third world countries, we are living with it here and we need to recognize it's face.

I want to travel across this vast country of ours and give attention to the beautiful women here who have been afflicted with HIV/AIDS. We are a very generous country when it comes to giving to other countries, but we have to look in our own backyards with love and compassion to start a conversation about how we can prevent the further spread and the treatment of this disease here in America.
HIV is the number one cause of death for young Black women in the US... our health care system isn't helping... I want to shine a gentle compassionate light on all women with HIV/AIDS here in America to tell their "normal" yet extraordinary stories of life with the disease and how their world has been changed by it. They are mothers, daughters, wives, girlfriends, and they are creating their lives in spite of, and because of this disease... a photographic essay of determination, struggle, failure, and success.
If we normalize the conversation about AIDS, we can bring it out of the shadows and into the light to do something about it. It's difficult to solve this issue in other countries when we can't even talk about the problem we have here...
AIDS does not discriminate... there will be a face of AIDS in every state of our nation... they need to be seen, and they need to be loved. It's harder to judge and point fingers when you have a real person in front of you...