Since I first began working on The Graying of AIDS in 2006, a number of the extraordinary people profiled in this body of work have died from a variety of AIDS- and/or aging-related illnesses. I am deeply saddened to report the loss of two more cherished project participants: Sue Saunders (age 78) and Richard Kearns (age 60).

Sue Saunders, 1933 – 2012

In my last conversation with Sue, she expressed her frustration with not being able to go out to educate any longer – that those years of her life had irrevocably passed.  I had called to tell her about the latest publication that wanted to use her quotes and images, and reminded her that that her words and message were continuing to resonate with all the people who watched her Graying of AIDS video portrait. View the rest of this entry »

Thinking of the wonderful Bob Franke, who passed away over the holidays at the age of 78. I feel very grateful to have had the opportunity to interview this truly memorable and inspiring man about his fight against HIV discrimination in long term care.

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A selection of images from the Despers steel drum yard in Crown Heights, Brooklyn. View the rest of this entry »

For World AIDS Day, on December 1st, there’s lots of new material on the Graying of AIDS website: new video portraits on Bill, Robert and Sue; a new interview with Anna; a brand new blog on Artists Responding to Aging and to HIV/AIDS; and a first of many special “featurettes ” – themed, issue-driven resource guides and learning tools, this one on institutional HIV discrimination.

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Sunday, 9/25 is the official Finissage, or closing day, of the 4th annual Governors Island Art Fair.

The Graying of AIDS project was thrilled to present our work as part of this month-long group exhibition, which is curated by 4heads, a New York-based arts group that transforms otherwise unused spaces into unique environments for the exhibition and performance of diverse artistic work. View the rest of this entry »

The tenth anniversary of September 11th was many things to many people. Patriotic side show, election year soap box, corporate sponsorship opportunity, major police and secret service operation. During the official commemoration on the morning of 9/11, Lower Manhattan was on complete security lockdown, with access to the memorial site granted to family members only. During the previous night and the afternoon and evening of the 11th, however, the area around the active construction site morphed into a carnivalesque state fair of commemorative tourism – with vendors hawking their wares and assorted conspiracy theorists their drama, while the local fire station turned into some kind of a petting zoo for grief pilgrims. View the rest of this entry »

Images from an ongoing series exploring Berlin’s evolving landscape, documenting how Germany commemorates the vanished East and the country’s separation during the cold war.  In a city ever-changing, where layers of empires past are piled on top of one another or simply disappear, efforts to hold on to history vacillate between earnestness and denial, romanticizing and academic analyzing, conservation and neglect – and in between the plaques and public art displays, commercial opportunism finds its niches where ever possible. View the rest of this entry »

Photographing local fire works in Broad Channel, a Queens enclave of about 3,000 people living on the only residential island in Jamaica Bay. Part of an on-going series exploring the new, and old, NYC water front. View the rest of this entry »

Graying of AIDS: Older Americans at risk for HIV infection.
Anna Fowlkes, 64, didn’t date for years after her husband, Sonny, died of a brain tumor. And after she finally did, she learned she’d become infected with HIV. View the rest of this entry »

Ed Shaw: Educating Older Adults About HIV/AIDS

Disease is no stranger to the 50-plus crowd, by: Susan Kreimer | from: AARP Bulletin | January 25, 2011

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