Steve Simon
Steve Simon's African Journey
It was on his first trip to Africa in 2002, while photographing in Zambia with Photo Sensitive, a group of socially concerned photographers, that photojournalist Steve Simon realized there was more to the story of AIDS in Africa than the kinds of photographs he was used to seeing. There was struggle and tragedy, certainly, but there was also spirit, resolve and evidence of the great courage it took just to live each day.
"It was a learning trip for me," Steve says. "We were putting together an exhibition to promote awareness of the problem of AIDS in Africa, and everything I saw, from the physical beauty of the place to the generosity of spirit and inspiration that the people provided, made it clear to me that I'd be back, that I wanted to continue to work in Africa."
He returned in 2005, once again with Photo Sensitive, spending three weeks in Ethiopia and Mozambique taking pictures that would be included in an exhibit at the 2006 International AIDS Conference in Toronto. Soon after, he had another opportunity, this time working with a film crew in Lesotho for two weeks. "By then I was beginning to accumulate a collection of photographs that I hoped I might be able to use in the future in some bigger way," Steve says.
Then he showed some of the photographs to the publisher of his book on the 2004 GOP convention, The Republicans. "He said right away that he'd like to do a book. For me it was a rare opportunity—a publisher saying he wanted to do a book before I had all the materal I felt I needed."
To generate the material, Steve returned to Lesotho and spent five weeks photographing. From his previous visit he knew people who could help him, so he was able to immediately go to work rather than spend time making connections. More than half the images that appear in his book, Heroines & Heroes: Hope, HIV and Africa, are from that trip.
Many of the photos are startling in their intimacy. No barrier appears to exist between Steve and the people he photographed. There are no intrusive moments; only knowledge, trust and the reality of the situation. "People allowed me in because they realized the importance of the story," he says, "and the fact that it would get out to a wider audience and perhaps help in some way."
It is the story he envisioned during his first visit to Africa. "It was important to me to focus not only on the scourge of AIDS and what it is doing to the continent of Africa, but also to include some of the positive steps that were being taken in the fight against AIDS, and to emphasize the fact that life is going on despite the disease. And because my experience in Africa showed me that it is such an amazingly beautiful place, I wanted that part of the story to be there, too."
The images are powerful, but Steve's book includes something just as important as the pictures. "I wanted to have some way for people to do something if they wanted to," he says, "so the book has a call to action section. If the photographs have the power to connect with people and move them, I wanted the book to offer specific ways for them to get involved."
Steve's royalties for the book will be donated to AIDS organizations, and he is continuing to photograph in Africa. "My book is for the grandmothers who, with few resources and little support, are raising the children of their children who've died of AIDS," he says. "I was inspired by them, and I hope to do a project in Africa about them."
