African Journal

Reprint
"This is a story of survival and courage. A story to change an idea, an image. A story to change a belief. I'm a photographer, an American, recently returning from South Africa. I spent over five years visiting orphanages for sub-Saharan children whose parents had died of AIDS.

The extraordinary children are best 'described' in the photographs. The story is a compelling one. In Zimbabwe, for instance, whole villages are run by children, the adults dead from the virus. Often the orphanages are secret sites; death threats are common if one visits them. At times I needed an ex-CIA operative as my chaperone. Garrulous and rough, whatever his past deeds, he works now to save abandoned children. Other times I traveled alone.

I've recorded - in writings, and principally, photographs--my journey. African Journal: A Child's Continent, an illuminating series of faces and stories highlighting the forgotten orphans of Southern Africa. I have used the lens of my camera to focus on the beauty of each child, and not on the disease."