Monday 24 November 2008

'Siyapila'











'Siyapila'
review
In March 2008, over a period of three weeks, I travelled around South Africa with the intention of documenting how South African's are dealing with HIV/AIDS in their communities. I was privileged enough to be accompanied by representatives of the charity World Vision, who took me to these communities and helped me gain a much clearer perspective on the seriousness and impact of this virus on my home country of South Africa.

Siyapila means 'we are living' in Zulu. It is important to concentrate on not only curing this virus, but also to look at the people who are dealing with this on a daily basis, and gain a positive outlook on their lives. The projects that I visited while in South Africa are all linked with HIV/AIDS, and how the people of South Africa are trying to face the virus and it's consequences head on.

The book is available to purchase now:

By Aimee-Jayne Ruther...

NOTE:
Photography is a voyage of consciousness. In some ways perhaps my photography can be seen as selfish, I want to explore things through photography for my own personal understanding. I want to understand people and social situations, and the best way for me to do that is through reading and through making pictures. When I did ‘Siyapila’, I was exploring my country in a way that I had never considered before. The project broke my heart in some ways, it made me angry, it made me happy and I fell in love with people’s stories, but the most important thing was that I was able to understand.

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