pitfalls/ advice/ ideas/ by the ways

[tikaldogos]

my brother is starting a crusade for aids awareness. he wants me to come down and shoot some photos for him. this from my understanding will be an ongoing article so i will take photos mabee once a month.

i will have my name on photos and get credit for them.

i know photos need to be more artistic. i know these photos will have to talk to the people more than a photo of your dog or cat. is there a point when you pass shock value?? or do you want to push photo as far as you can??

[auddii]

One thing that I've noticed is that people talk about aids, campaign against aids, walk for aids research, but I think what is most often missing is a true human connection. Personally, I'd love to see who the person is, and what their life is like. Unfortunately, that probably doesn't help you with what you can shoot.

If they are far progressed in their disease, maybe show them in a dignified manor, but don't hide lesions or anything - maybe some gritty black and whites.

If they are not that sick and still living life to the fullest, then maybe some more airy photos showing them doing what they love.

Sorry, to not be so helpful. Good luck with the project!

[tikaldogos]

i said the same thing to him...he is hiv positive...i told him he needs to put a face to it. needs to show anyone can get it. take it out of a particular community.

for example..(just throwing out numbers he will have actual) say 2 out every 10 kids are born hiv positive...take a photo that says you guess which two...this will also get away from stereo types.

[J Eddington]

Norman, have you seen, The Julie Project by Darcy Padilla - A Very Emotional Story of Life and Death? It might give you some ideas.

I admire photographers who take on a long term project. Who take risks. Darcey Padilla did that. She went to great efforts to see her 18 year project to the end. She tells a story of great emotion.

I looked at the photos and read it. There are no words to describe the feelings that come from viewing this. I can't say I enjoyed it, but in a strange way I did. I did enjoy the way Darcy told the story, both in words and in using photography. It is a very powerful story. If you choose to read/look at it, you may need to get some tissues.

Here is a quote describing her project.
"For the last 18 years I (Darcy Padilla) have photographed Julie Baird’s
complex story of multiple homes, AIDS, drug abuse,
abusive relationships, poverty, births, deaths, loss
and reunion. Following Julie from the backstreets of
San Francisco to the backwoods of Alaska."

Darcy Padilla | The Julie Project

[carrbowl]

speaking of numbers. Shell did a commercial that was cute. They used kids and each kid had a number on it..then they had the CEO talk about things to do with numbers...and the kids would scatter into different numbers..1,000,000 2, whatever number he was talking about....I don't know if could work with photos...but it might. If you friend me on facebook you can see the video under Shell Houston Open video. It might help spark some ideas.