I had the honour to work for the Stephen Lewis Foundation (SLF) to document the impact of HIV/AIDS on communities and individuals in sub-Saharan Africa; specifically on women, orphans, and grandmothers.

In the spring of 2006 I journeyed with a small documentary crew through urban and rural South Africa, Zambia, Kenya, and Uganda, to visit some of the grassroots organizations SLF supports. Seventy-two hours of dense material, in eight African languages, has since been developed into three half-hour films; a trilogy that gives voice to those who are sick, dying, and resiliently surviving in the face of the AIDS pandemic. As part of this unforgettable and life-changing assignment, I took over 500 photographs, both in black and white and colour.

[This] sequence of images represents the spectrum I witnessed; one that revealed itself in every moment: poverty, human suffering, gender inequality, and overwhelming injustice combined with unimaginable strength of character, intense beauty, and a glowing spirit of generosity.