Press Release October 5, 2010
Access to Life Exhibition at the United Nations Exhibition Gallery Portrays a Global Revolution in the Fight against AIDS - October 5 – December 7, 2010
Images from Eight Renowned Photographers of Magnum Photos Chronicle the Dramatic Effects of AIDS Medicine On Individuals Beginning Treatment for AIDS around the World
Appearing in its eighth international exhibition venue, the Access to Life photography project will open at the United Nations on October 5th, and will be on display through December 7, 2010. Through photography, multimedia and text, the project chronicles the transformative effect that access to free antiretroviral drug treatments is having on AIDS patients around the world.
Working in partnership with the agency Magnum Photos, The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria sent an international team of eight photographers to nine countries in the fall of 2007, and for a second visit four months later. Their aim was to document the dramatic impact of treatment on more than 30 individuals and their families. While not shying away from portraits of those for whom treatment came too late or was not successful, the Access to Life exhibit shows how access to free antiretroviral drug treatment is having a transformative effect around the world, not only for the individuals portrayed, but on the lives of millions of AIDS patients accessing treatment through programs supported by The Global Fund, The President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), and other partners.
Since the first Access to Life exhibit in June of 2008 at the Corcoran Gallery of Art in Washington, the exhibit has been shown in Madrid, Oslo, Rome, Oakland, Berlin, and Tokyo, with the companion book published by Aperture Foundation and launched in Paris on World AIDS Day, 2008.
The Access to Life project features the work of the following Magnum photographers:
Jonas Bendiksen
Jim Goldberg
Alex Majoli
Steve McCurry
Paolo Pellegrin
Gilles Peress
Eli Reed
Larry Towell
SPOKESPEOPLE: The following spokespeople are available for comment:
Jon Liden, Head of Communications, the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria
Natasha Bilimoria, President, Friends of the Global Fight Against AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria
Mark Lubell, Director of Magnum Photos
For more information about the Access to Life project and for rights free press photos, please visit the media section of accesstolife.theglobalfund.org.