thatâs not fair to gideon mendel, the photographer who took those photos in 1993. he took them in black-and-white even though color cameras were available, yes, but not to âmake them seem long ago and far awayâ. he was photographing in black-and-white so they would be taken seriously.
mendel is still documenting and lifting up the voices of people who live with hiv/aids in the project âthrough positive eyesâ.Â
if mendel hadnât taken these photographs, we wouldnât have a record of these patients and the ends of their lives at all. it was extremely unusual for aids wards to let photographers in, and the patients took a risk in letting mendel photograph them and their loved ones.Â
rest in peace, andrĂŠ, steven, and john.