Photo-essay commissioned by Concern wins Amnesty Media Award
Wednesday, 28 June 2006
Photo-essay commissioned by Concern wins Amnesty Media Award
A powerful set of photographs commissioned by Concern as part of the Positive Lives project has won the Amnesty Media Award for Photojournalism.
Photographer Stuart Freedman travelled to Rwanda in October 2005 to explore how the country is responding to the HIV&AIDS epidemic. He spent time at a Voluntary Counselling and Testing project run jointly by Concern and the Rwandan government near the Rwandan/Burundian border.
His photo-essay, ‘Rwanda: Facing the virus’, is a look at the work being done through this project to test and educate those people at risk from the virus. Through stunning images and personal testimonies Stuart explores the moving stories of those affected by HIV&AIDS in this rural area of Rwanda. Stuart explains:
“There are many small, quiet stories here: people walking for hours to come and be tested, to discover their fate. Others learning to live with the disease. A man caring for his wife in her last days. A farmer, HIV positive but with faith, praying with his family in the early morning before working his fields.
"It's the second time I've won this award but this time is very special as I know how much work Concern put in to this and how well the exhibition was received.”
‘Rwanda: facing the virus’ forms as part of the Positive Lives exhibition, a unique project that photographs and documents the impact of the global HIV & AIDS epidemic. Since its beginnings in the UK in 1993, the exhibition has portrayed the tremendous courage of people living with HIV & AIDS, and those who care for them, from different communities around the world.
For more information about Positive Lives, or to order a copy of Positive Lives: international responses to HIV&AIDS, a book containing a collection of moving images from the Positive Lives exhibition, including images from Rwanda click here.
