Photography for Advocacy

Of the approximately one million people living with HIV in the United States, an estimated 10,000 are children who contracted the virus from their mothers or through tainted blood transfusions. Eighty-five percent of HIV-positive children are black or Latino; most live in urban areas; and, as in other nations around the globe, HIV/AIDS in the United States remains a disease of poverty.

In a new exhibition at the Columbia University School of Social Work entitled "On Borrowed Time: Growing Up with HIV/AIDS in the United States" photographer Katja Heinemann explores the impact the disease has on young people. The photographs were taken at Camp Heartland for Children Affected by HIV/AIDS, where a safe atmosphere and feeling of acceptance enable the children to share their stories and find support. Both HIV-negative children, who suffer from the impact that the illness has on their families, and HIV-positive children attend the camp.

With improved medical treatments, HIV-positive children in the United States are now reaching their teenage years. But the majority of young people suffering from HIV/AIDS cannot talk about the illness outside their homes—and sometimes not even within their families—because of the stigma attached to the disease. Many feel isolated from their peers as well as adults. They do not know others who are experiencing the emotions that accompany illness, secrecy, and loss. While new treatments bring hope, a cure remains elusive, and children living with HIV/AIDS have to learn to cope with toxic, often experimental, medical regimens.

The exhibition is part of the Open Society Institute's "Moving Walls" series. The exhibit is located on the fourth floor of the School of Social Work building (1255 Amsterdam Avenue) and is open to the public Monday through Friday from 10:00am-3:00pm. For more information about the exhibition, please contact Jeannie Hii at 212-851-2327 or [email protected], or visit www.movingwalls.org.

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About the Photographer

After growing up in Germany, Katja Heinemann has spent the past 14 years in the United States and currently lives in Brooklyn, New York. As a documentary and editorial photographer, Heinemann focuses on intimate portrayals of people and everyday life in America, exploring issues of women's health and body consciousness, immigration, and, more recently, American patriotism and militarism after September 11.

Since the summer of 2000, Katja has been working on the new media documentary On Borrowed Time, which chronicles the lives of children and teenagers who have grown up with HIV/AIDS in the United States. The resulting multimedia website by Time.com won several awards in the 2002 Pictures of the Year and National Press Photographers Association competitions. Her photographs and interviews with the children of Camp Heartland were published as a book, Journey of Hope, in the spring of 2005.

Katja was a contributor to Chicago's independent documentary project, Chicago in the Year 2000, and her photographs have been included in the anthologies Here Is New York, which documents September 11, and Pandemic: Facing AIDS. Her editorial work has appeared in Time Magazine, U.S. News & World Report, Stern, the Chicago Tribune Sunday Magazine, and Marie Claire, among others. She is represented by Aurora Photos.

About CUSSW (www.socialwork.columbia.edu)

For more than 100 years, the Columbia University School of Social Work has been the leader in practice and policy. Located in New York City, the school offers master’s and doctoral programs that are nationally and internationally recognized for their excellence. With its signature curriculum that encompasses multidimensional academic coursework and a far-reaching field education experience, CUSSW continues to be at the forefront of clinical practice, social policy, and social enterprise administration education, teaching, research, and social work innovation in the 21st Century.

Note: Information about the exhibit is taken from the artist's statement at www.movingwalls.org.