-
1983
Michèle
“My young years prepared me for my HIV. People with untroubled youths have it a lot harder. I've become a professional in traumatic matters.”
-
1984
Erwin
“When the bereavement card arrived, I thought: another couple of years and then I'll end up like Ruud, in an envelope like this with a gray border.”
-
1985
Jos
“I've bowed to the inevitable. I have a virus that my genes can pretty much handle.”
-
1986
Kenneth
“I didn't come to the Netherlands in 1986 to live, but to die. But until the turn of the century I hardly saw a doctor. I never entered a hospital.”
-
1987
Han
“All those people who are no longer here wanted to go on living. Like me. That places on me a great responsibility to make the most of it.”
-
1988
Marjolein
“It has to be a bit rough. For me it's not purely about the esthetics. Maybe I'm done with beauty. I'm looking for life in my photos.”
-
1989
Peter en Michael
“People who realize that they're dying are good to live with. There's no more mess: all that’s left is what’s essential.”
-
1990
Hestia
“Photos are allright. But it's best if I'm not recognizable in the image.”
-
1991
Erwin
“On the way to the car, on the way to the first aid. Strange, I always thought that the love of your life was going to carry you over the threshold only into the house, not out of the house.”
-
1992
Harrie
“Model, performer, junkie, stylist, columnist, collagist, jester, host, creative consultant...”
-
1993
Cam
“I don't want my children to learn from a photo in a book that their mother has AIDS.”
-
1994
Erik
“Humor! Laughter! I haven't much longer to live, they say... They don't get it at all.”
-
1995
Terror
“The shame and fear that make it impossible to say to the rest of the world: I'm seropositive, I'm infected with HIV.”
-
1996
Jerry
“It was a German boy. We were together for no more than a year. He was the love of my life.”
-
1997
John
“At my afternoon get-together, everyone there caught HIV from the rain and is only taking vitamin C.”
-
1998
Sjoerd
“I still had ten T4 cells. I was put in a room. Alone. To die, because I was too sick for HIV medication. The outlook was catastrophic.”
-
1999
Nico
“I often sat on the deck alone at night, looking at the stars and the sea. I found it beautiful. The moonlight, the waves.”
-
2000
Peter
“Contrary to my great vulnerability in everyday situations, I'm very confident in my sex. And I love learning, it's that simple.”
-
2001
Marck
“In Paramaribo the streets were full of Colombian and Venezuelan beauties. The kind of flowers that made your head explodes.”
-
2002
Marlies
“The hardest thing is to decide when I'll tell them. I don't want them to grow up with a secret.”
-
2003
Ellen en Linda
“Ellen:
Was I angry?
Linda:
Yes, you were really angry.”
-
2004
Liesje
“And I still have to get an injection. How can that be right? I don't see the sense in an injection.”
-
2005
Frank
“It was all in my head. Physically I was quite healthy. Even up to now I'm still doing without HIV medication.”
-
2006
Anne
“The first test was good. At the second test, after two months, everything was still okay. But with the last test, after three months, I turned out to be infected.”
-
2007
Bas
“Eventually I want some kind of retreat or farm in France. Together with a husband and some goats. Lots of goats.”
-
2008
Anton
“The behavior of that director in particular knocked my socks off. Because I was so open about my HIV, he fired me.”
-
2009
Casper
“So I made an appointment. Called Thursday for one on Friday. As soon as possible! It was bad! There was a different doctor, who tossed out the cruel words...”
-
2010
Eddy en Jan
“I spent 4 years as an alderman with HIV. Without knowing. I worked 80 hours a week, but had no trouble at all. That's possible.”
-
2011
Alex
“I'm 31 and live near Rotterdam. By profession I'm a gardener. My hobby is beekeeping. Life with an HIV infection is still new to me.”