Acces to Life: Magnum and the Global Fund to fight HIV, Malaria and Tuberculosis.
© From Access to Life by Alex Majoli [Magnum]
Remarkable collaboration between Magnum and The Global Fund to fight Malaria, Tuberculosis and HIV.
“Access to Life“, describes the impact of anti-retroviral treatments for HIV using the example of the life of 31 patients around the globe, portrayed before and 4 months after the initiation of treatment by several top Magnum photographers, Jonas Bendiksen, Jim Goldberg, Alex Majoli, Steve McCurry, Paolo Pellegrin, Gilles Peress, Eli Reed, and Larry Towell.
The photographs and the stories are fascinating and they are presented as multimedia projects with perfect integration of video, still images and audio. A great example of the importance of multimedia as a great way to enhance the impact of still photography in photojournalism. You can see the stories here, and read the narratives here.
An exhibition of the images started at the Corcoran Gallery in Washington D.C. this month, and will travel to Mexico City, Paris, London, Berlin, and Rome throughout 2008 and 2009. A large-format book will be published on World AIDS Day 2008, December 1st.
For 25 years, AIDS has ravaged the lives and livelihoods of millions of people. Since the early 1980s, nearly 30 million people have died from AIDS. But over the past few years, a quiet global revolution has enabled millions of people infected by HIV to live healthy lives.
In the early 1990s, when antiretroviral drugs became available, AIDS was transformed from a certain death sentence to a manageable, chronic disease–but only for some. The expense of the drugs and their distribution prevented 95 percent of those living with HIV from getting access to them. International outrage that millions were dying because of economic disparity helped reduce drug prices, and also helped to create the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria in 2002. Through the Global Fund and the U.S. President’s Emergency Program for AIDS Relief, the world began to invest in a massive roll out of antiretroviral treatment in more than 100 developing countries. Doctors and health care workers around the world have adapted complicated procedures to settings where people often could not access even the most basic care. Already, millions of lives that otherwise might have been lost are being saved. Equally important, providing treatment is becoming a central part of the efforts to prevent further spread of the disease.
It is pretty nice for magnum. I suppose that they are among the few getting healthy lives from HIV and other photogenic diseases. Pharmaceuticals first at a long run.
Not sure if you comment is ironic or confusing? Do you mean that this is a profit making activity for Magnum taking advantage of the sick?
I guess the same “criteria” would apply to any media that covers news … all media makes a profit reporting the life of others … at least Magnum focuses on issues that matter, even if the news are not about making money but about telling an history that matters … and they do it graciously and professionally.
Regarding the comment about Pharmaceuticals, it is ironic to complain about them but when we are sick demand the products that costs billions to develop … maybe you should learn about the process of making medicines. You may be surprised of what it takes.
Best
Miguel