ABSTRACT
In the fall of 1988, the Museum of Modern Art in New York presented an exhibition of Nicholas Nixon’s photographs called “Pictures of People.” Among the people pictured by Nixon are people with AIDS (PWAs), each portrayed in a series of images taken at intervals of about a week or a month. The photographs form part of a larger work-in-progress, undertaken by Nixon and his wife, a science journalist, to, as they explain it, “tell the story of AIDS: to show what this disease truly is, how it affects those who have it, their lovers, families and friends, and that it is both the most devastating and the most important social and medical issue of our time.” 1 These photographs were highly praised by reviewers, who saw in them an unsentimental, honest, and committed portrayal of the effects of this devastating illness. One photography critic wrote:
Nixon literally and figuratively moves in so close we’re convinced that his subjects hold nothing back. The viewer marvels at the trust between photographer and subject. Gradually one’s own feelings about AIDS melt away and one feels both vulnerable and privileged to share the life and (impending) death of a few individuals.
(Atkins, 1988)