Visual Culture and Health Posters

Title:: Fight the Fear with the Facts

(high resolution jpg) High resolution version (3,948,173 Bytes)

Description:

In 1982, many AIDS-specific voluntary organizations, such as the AIDS Project of Los Angeles (APLA), were set up to address the persistent problems of misinformation and fear that dominated early reports on AIDS. The APLA established a toll-free hotline, for example, to answer questions regarding risk factors and modes of infection. Although the first hotline office was literally a closet in a community center, where volunteers answered a single telephone and read information from a one-page fact sheet, by the time of the ALPA's tenth anniversary in 1992, the organization had assisted 11,500 clients. The image of a diverse group of people holding raised hands in this APLA poster from 1986 was in strong contrast to the stereotypes and stigma surrounding HIV/AIDS at the time the poster was made. While the grave faces of the crowd reflect the seriousness of the threat, the light shining down on clasped hands symbolizes the power and promise of greater awareness. This image, epitomizing unity in diversity, challenges existing assumptions that HIV/AIDS only affects certain populations. It also contrasts markedly with the passive response of many government agencies in the 1980s. Combined with the textual message, the poster suggests that fear and ignorance can only be overcome by working together regardless of age, gender, race, or sexual orientation.

NOTE: Slide of original poster image is slightly blurry.

Number of Image Pages:

1 (506,341 Bytes)

Date:

1986

Creator:

AIDS Project of Los Angeles

Source:

Original Repository: The History of Medicine Division. Prints and Photographs Collection.

This image may also be accessed from the Images from the History of Medicine (IHM).

URL: http://wwwihm.nlm.nih.gov/

IHM Order Number: A025119

Publisher:

AIDS Project of Los Angeles

Rights:

Reproduced with permission of the AIDS Project of Los Angeles.

Subject:

Medical Subject Headings (MeSH):: HIV; Public Health

Visual Culture and Public Health Keywords:: Solidarity and Human Rights

Exhibit Category:

HIV/AIDS

Unique Identifier:

VCBBHH

Document Type:

Posters

Slides (photographs)

Language:

English

Format:

image/jpeg

image/tif

Physical Condition:

Good

Metadata Last Modified Date:

2004-08-13

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