A.V. Flox calls Andrea Brough’s series Perilous Transmission “a painstaking work of humanity that transcends the easy message of most sexual health awareness campaigns”:
The series shows a couple as they work out their emotions following infection, as well as
a cast of other characters going about their daily lives, showing the viewer that there is life after a positive test result. To visually illustrate what is so often invisible, Brough used her models’ skins as a canvas. She thought a long time about how she was going to show positive status, conscious of the possible stigma that easy solutions — such as the biohazard symbol — would convey.
“I was trying to think of some kind of symbol that would help people see what was going on but also question what was going on,” she told me. “The markings ultimately were made with a rubber stamp that I found at a craft store. The stamp is actually supposed to be an image of a water ring – you know how you put your glass of water down on a coffee table and it leaves a mark? That’s what it is.”
The water ring gives the impression of a cell – but it’s a neutral image. While some of the shots inspire very emotional reactions in viewers, the imagery used to portray the models’ status retains its neutrality, making all the images depicting life with STIs all the more poignant. Without the stigma, a viewer is capable of seeing beyond disease to the people themselves – the young woman putting on makeup, the couple cuddling, the woman playing pool.
(Photo by Andrea Brough. See more of her work here and here. Her images are available for purchase here.)
The Dish 