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Human Interest

The Inspiration Behind A Movement

Posted: 12/8/2011

Select winning entries from the 2011 Bristol-Myers Squibb HIV Photo Contest. The images and words are serving as inspiration for a new Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater work, to premiere on World AIDS Day 2011. For more visit: HIVPhotoContest.com. Left: Submitted by Chace C. (Akron, OH), Right: Submitted by Kurt Weston (Huntington Beach, CA).

(NAPSI)—How do you fight HIV?

David Fairman fights HIV “like a planted seed fighting through the earth waiting to release a beautiful fragrance…” John Perkins fights HIV “with friends, family, and God…” Chace C. fights HIV “by sharing his life through dance and dancing with the disabled…” Sherry Meltz fights HIV “by finding peace offered through natural beauty, which provides a respite from fear and an assurance of hope…” Kurt Weston fights HIV and blindness “by seeing the world like an impressionist painting…”

Many people fight HIV every day, and these stories are just a snapshot of the winning entries from the 2011 Bristol-Myers Squibb HIV Photo Contest. The contest called for people infected with or affected by HIV to illustrate how they fight HIV their way via a photo and short essay. The winning stories are serving as the inspiration for a new Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater work, to premiere on World AIDS Day 2011. The work will be performed across the country as part of the Company’s 2011-2012 season, furthering the mission of the HIV Photo Contest to help raise awareness about HIV and to help reduce the stigma that many people living with HIV face.

“The truly moving and uplifting stories shared through the contest will enable Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater to create a new work that pays tribute to the collective fight of people living with HIV,” said Judith Jamison, Ailey Artistic Director Emerita and one of the judges of the HIV Photo Contest. “As we carry on the pioneering work of Alvin Ailey, this important initiative by Bristol-Myers Squibb will allow us to use dance to inspire and unite in a celebration of his legacy, and all who have been affected by this significant issue.”

Although there has been significant progress since the beginning of the HIV epidemic, there are still more than one million people living with HIV in the US. The most recent data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) indicate that an estimated 50,000 new infections occur each year. In fact, about every nine and a half minutes, someone new is infected with HIV.

In its third installment, Bristol-Myers Squibb’s HIV Photo Contest leverages the power of words and visual arts in an effort to inspire people impacted by HIV to continue their fight. More than 1,300 photos and essays were submitted to the HIV Photo Contest. The ten winning entries come from geographically diverse communities and demonstrate the extent of the HIV epidemic in the United States. Visit www.HIVPhotoContest.com for more on the contest and to see an online gallery of the winning photos and essays.

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