No Negative - Just Positive

Growing up in a society and an era that has predominantly represented HIV/AIDS as well as African countries in a pessimistic and patronising way acted as the catalyst for me to produce two of the following pieces of work:

No Negative
Just Positive
No negative is the second documentary that I have produced around the theme of HIV/AIDS in West Africa. (If you would like to see the first project please go to www.pvkphotography.com). This work specifically deals with the generally un-seen element of pro-activity in relation to AIDS awareness and support currently operating throughout Ghana on other regions in West Africa. The selected images enclosed are a subsection of the portraits, landscapes and detailed images which are contained in this body of work. I have intentionally concentrated on portraits as they provide the best medium of representation of a vibrant aesthetic not often seen in relation to HIV/AIDS. One of the biggest motivations to produce this work in an optimistic way was derived from research that showed the dramatic governmental impact which has occurred since my previous documentary in 2003. Somewhat surprisingly, the Ghanaian Department of Health accepted responsibility for the health of HIV/AIDS patients by agreeing to pay for 95 per cent of the costs of anti-retroviral (AVRs) i.e. the drugs that allow these people to live healthy and productive lives within their communities.

All of those pictured represent the many individuals currently living with either HIV or AIDS in a positive manner (see individual image captioning). The documentary is also intertwined with gentle, personal, non-directed images produced by the individuals to represent themselves.