“In the red room where I have been living since my diagnosis, everything I experience and everyone I encounter are all painted the color of my affliction. This body of work came from being told by a couple art professors that I should not make work about being HIV+ for “professional reasons”. I don’t want to live in a world where I have to hide my status in order to be taken seriously. Silence equals death and vulnerability equals strength. The photos in this series are an expression of the complicated experience that positive people live. It is a reflection of life from the eyes of an afflicted person. Along with myself the series features other positive people, individuals I have been involved with, friends, allies, fellow positive artists, sex workers, porn actors, trans people and so many more. It is a space to celebrate sexuality and embrace what is generally misunderstood about us.”

Photographer: Sam Stoich | instagram