Positiv&Negativ dates from 2006 and is part of my final year diploma work at the faculty of design at the
University of Applied Sciences Hamburg. It is an attempt to question through art the discrimination and
stigma experienced by people infected with HIV. Photography and its inherent link between positive and
negative parts of one image offered the ideal medium for this project.
The project consists of colour slides taken from human blood seen through a microscope. To increase the
contrast between the images each colour slide is presented adjacent to the complementary black and
white negative.
The lambda prints taken from this work were shown in backlit light boxes, a presentation which increased
the three dimensional and spatial appearance of the prints.
Despite of the initially abstract appearance of these images I also regard them as human portraits in a
more general sense as blood is also used as an unique sign of identification, similar to fingerprints or
genetic codes etc. Furthermore in cultural history blood has been frequently associated with a variety of
meanings and interpretations ( i.e. blood as a sign of the strength of life, blood = soul, blood honour and
dishonour etc. )
These are only some of my thoughts about my work Positiv&Negativ.
Further information about this work you will find here:
Excerpt from the speech held at AIDS-Hilfe Luebeck, Germany on 26.11.2006 as part
of the exhibition »HIV im Dialog« (pdf-file, 160KB) >>
(rtf-file, 8KB) >>
