PhotoVoice HIV, a new exhibition due to open in Cork, has announced a call for submissions. Photographers are asked to take a picture of what HIV means to them with an aim to highlight the lives of people living with or affected by HIV.

Organised by The Sexual Health Centre, the exhibition will be launched on November 28 in the Cork Vision Centre and run until World AIDS Day on December 1. In order to be eligible for selection, the photographer must themselves be living with or affected by HIV.

The goal of PhotoVoice HIV is to shed light on existing misinformation surrounding the topic of HIV, challenge related stigma and discrimination, and raise awareness towards the reality of living with HIV through the medium of photography.

The rules of the selection process remind people not to include any type of logo in the image, not to reproduce a previously existing image, avoid portraits or faces and no children should be pictured.

The selected photographs will be displayed at the launch night in The Cork Vision Centre until World AIDS Day when a number of select photographs will be printed and displayed during the Park Run event in Ballincollig.

2018 marks the 30th anniversary of World AIDS Day and this year’s theme is ‘Know Your Status’. As the UNAIDS website states: “many barriers to HIV testing remain. Stigma and discrimination still deters people from taking an HIV test. Access to confidential HIV testing is still an issue of concern. Many people still only get tested after becoming ill and symptomatic.

“Significant progress has been made in the AIDS response since 1988, and today three in four people living with HIV know their status. But we still have miles to go… and that includes reaching people living with HIV who do not know their status and ensuring that they are linked to quality care and prevention services.”

For more information on the submissions process for the exhibition, please follow the link here.