The EMHF will once again be backing the One Vision European Photography Competition designed to combat the stigma and discrimination felt by those affected by HIV/AIDS.
Bristol-Myers Squibb Company, who are once again sponsoring the competition, are appealing to photographers across Europe to focus their cameras on the disease.
‘Public opinion is sometimes under the misconception that, with the arrival of new treatments, problems are over,’ says Christian Saout, President of the French Association AIDES, one of the partners of One Vision. ‘This has caused a thick cloak of silence to fall, and sufferers are finding it increasingly difficult to speak out. The focus of One Vision is to change the how the HIV/AIDS epidemic is seen. With HIV/AIDS sufferers shrouded in silence in this way, this focus is an essential one.’
The first two One Vision competitions drew a great number of quality images which depict the way people with HIV and AIDS are living today. In 2003, over 500 people from 16 countries entered photos, and in 2004, entries came from nearly 700 people in 18 countries.
Four European prizes (EUR 5,000 first prize and EUR 2,000 second prize) and several national prizes (EUR 1,000) will be awarded. Winning photos, selected by a panel of judges chaired by the photographer Robert Taylor, will be shown across Europe as part of an overall program to raise awareness about how people with HIV and AIDS are living their lives.
‘We welcome this opportunity for professional and amateur photographers to use their creativity to help fight the stigma that is still attached to people living with HIV,’ said Eric Savoye, Director of EMHF.
One Vision is backed by associations of people living with HIV-AIDS in each participating country. As in previous years, funds collected through this initiative will be allocated to the associations.
‘Bristol-Myers Squibb is committed to the fight against HIV/AIDS through its focus on researching and developing innovative new medicines to treat the disease,’ said Annalisa Jenkins, Chief Medical Officer, Europe, Middle East and Africa, Bristol-Myers Squibb. ‘In addition, we believe strongly in the compassion of our global initiatives, such as One Vision, which are helping to change lives and also to change how HIV/AIDS is viewed by the public.’
- More information, entry forms and previous entries at www.onevision2006.org.
- Deadline for entries: March 15, 2006.
