STIGMA
Around 2006, South Africa was at the epicenter of the global HIV epidemic, with one of the highest prevalence rates in the world. Public understanding of the disease was shaped by fear, stigma, and political controversy, particularly around access to antiretroviral treatment. HIV & AIDS were often invisible in daily life, yet deeply present, casting uncertainty over individual futures across generations.
Foundation ArtAids / H+F gave me the opportunity to spend time in this environment and respond to it through new work. Those six weeks in Johannesburg were intense and formative. I was invited into the lives of many different, beautiful people, and through those encounters I learned not only about the city and its complexities, but also about myself. It remains the most meaningful assignment of my life so far.
Text by Ilse van Rijn for FOAM Magazine #18:
The image that clings to HIV & AIDS is decisive, and in some cases even fatal. You can’t read a thing from the face of the teenage girl in the work Noordergesig*. Not even her character becomes apparent in her perfect visage. But she, too, could have the disease. Her future, like everyone else’s, is threatened. Photographed from a distance, the unknown face in* Noordergesig becomes a repository for the world’s anxieties. In other photos, such as Hillbrow*, expressionless faces or ‘empty’ forms invite the viewer to project their own desires, dreams, or wishes.*
Shot on location in Johannesburg, South Africa.