This exhibition is very special to me as an artist as I am trying toshow a completely new and different side of HIV/AIDS: its face.

Without a person to project our compassion on, HIV/AIDS is nothing but a virus, a medical condition. What I am asking is: Who is the person? Who are you?

These pictures, which were produced in collaboration with Snjezana, Kristina Vöglein and Florian Pessenteiner, are sexual, demanding, emotional and full of life. They leave room to breath and are free from advertising imagery and prejudice.
The real life, uncut!

By Phill Hoffmann (hair and make up artist)

As everyone knows, Aids is a really serious subject nowadays in our society. When I got asked to do a shoot for the Anti Aids campaign , combined with an exhibition , I had no doubt to do it and to be literally one of the faces for it. Of course people came up to me and said why am I doing that, because in the end no one really wants to talk about this subject and everyone tries to avoid it in every kind of way. So I think exactly that is the reason why I decided to do it. People with Aids are still treated in a different way as people without the virus infection, even though our society stands up for treating them like "normal" people!
The biggest problem I think is that our society tries to convey the message that everyone knows everything about this virus infection. But to be honest, who really knows the exact details about it and to be true no one really does. Especially with such a campaign I think we can go step by step and bring it closer to people. Its a "problem" of our society and that is the thing people have to be aware of. We can't just run, turn or push it away, because its not possible.

Another reason why I decided to do the shoot for campaign was, that I did a social year in Austria before the modeling. In this year I was working with drug addicts, homeless people and people who had HIV. Such a work makes you clear that you are working with people who really need your help. It doesnt matter if its money you donate for researches or if it is just a handshake or a hello you bring to the people.

During the shoot I had really difficult moments and it was something really new to me, even though I have a lot of experience in modeling now. It did not really feel like a typical model shoot , because the background and the theme was something specific. Working with Philip Hoffmann (Hair/MakeUp artist) , Kristina Voglein and the extraordinary photographer Snjezana  was amazing and the results are just insane beautiful. I think I was able to show the emotions on the pictures I wanted to show and the venue, old fabric, helped a lot. We were shooting a whole day in Zagreb,Croatia and I really enjoyed doing it.

It probably sounds a little bit weird, but I am really proud about myself doing it, and about all the people who were involved in the whole thing. We did a really good job and I think we did another step up the stairs where we all have to go to. Even though it is just one step of loads, I think it was a really big one for us and we still have to go on and on.

text by Florian Pessenteiner (model)

Feelings of loneliness, isolation, doubt, but also courage and will to fight were some of the starting points for me in this campaign. I think we managed to show human side of it. I would like to thank everyone involved in the project, you were the best!

By Snjezana Jospiovic (photographer)