For nearly a year, Jo Ann Santangelo documented the stories of people living in Austin, TX in effort to reduce the stigma associated with the virus.
Chris
In June of 2008, Chris tested negative for HIV, on July 23, 2008, he tested positive. Chris was 21 years old. He got tested because he wasn't feeling good several days after having sexual intercourse with a new partner. When he tested positive for HIV Chris told the clinic the name of the person he had sex with, the clinic contacted and tested him for HIV, he tested positive. He didn't know.
Chris has been living with HIV for 4 years.
Via: vimeo.com
Dave
Dave tested positive for HIV on September 13, 1986. He was an undergraduate at Texas A&M University in College Station, TX. Dave got tested after a fellow student he met at a local gay bar showed up at his room and told him he was HIV positive. It was Dave's first sexual encounter.
Dave has been living with HIV for over 25 years.
Via: vimeo.com
Philip
Phillip had just separated from his wife when she was murdered in their home on January 13, 1988. About a month later he learned he tested positive for HIV. "This was 1988 all I could see was two orphan kids...I realized I could not get sick, I was all the only support they had. So, I said I would make it til they turned 18, and I did and that was a long time ago."
Philip has been living with HIV for 24 years.
Via: vimeo.com
Clara
Clara tested positive for HIV in 1998. She was told this by her sister, after she woke up from a coma in a nursing home. Clara had been beaten, raped and found naked in a dumpster. The man who raped her was HIV positive.
Clara has been living with HIV for 15 years.
Via: vimeo.com