A Memorial Tribute: AIDS Activists from the 1990s

A powerful new book of unique photographic portraits of AIDS activists from around the world, including members of ACT UP (The AIDS Coalition to Unleash Power) chapters in the United States and Europe, has just been published. the AIDS activist project is a 28-year project by veteran photographer and AIDS activist Bill Bytsura.

The AIDS Activist Project is a memorial to the brave men and women who struggled and died while fighting the epidemic and government neglect," Bill Bytsura said. "But this book is also a renewed call to action, because the AIDS epidemic is not over. Infection rates are rising again, and the Trump Administration, like Reagan and Bush, is ignoring the dangers."

From 1989 to 1998, Bytsura photographed AIDS activists from around the globe, beginning with members of the New York City chapter of ACT UP, and branching out to capture members of other ACT UP chapters in San Francisco, Los Angeles, St. Louis, Atlanta, Miami and Puerto Rico. Bytsura subsequently traveled to AIDS conferences in Europe to photograph ACT UP members and other AIDS activists from Amsterdam, Berlin and Paris.

The genesis for The AIDS Activist Project came when Bytsura, a longtime New Yorker, lost his life partner Randy Northup to AIDS in 1989. Filled with anger and helplessness, Bytsura attended an ACT UP/NY meeting. Eventually, he channeled his grief into protests and began photographing the group's raucous street demonstrations. During that time, Bytsura conceived the idea for the AIDS activist project.

"I saw ACT UP members as brave people taking a stand," Bytsura recalled, "but the public and media saw them only as sinners, lawbreakers and disease carriers. My goal was to photograph a series of studio portraits of these warriors, to show the world their heroic and mournful sides."

Bytsura's complete collection of 225 photographic portraits and original negatives, plus the activists' personal statements, are now archived at Fales Library at New York University, as part of The Downtown Collection. The AIDS Activist Project can be purchased here.

The Book Launch Event
Monday, November 5th, from 7:00 p.m. until 8:30 p.m..
Housing Works Bookstore Cafe, located at 126 Crosby Street, NYC.
The book launch party will feature a conversation between the author and a fellow AIDS activist, followed by a book signing, and a reception with refreshments. The event is free and open to the public.

About the Author/Photographer:
Bill Bytsura was born in Plattsburgh, NY, in 1956. He moved to Pennsylvania in 1974 and began to pursue photography. By 1984, he was receiving professional commissions from high-profile clients including Silverfern Group, American Express, Marymount Manhattan College, as well as the magazines Newsweek, Jazz Times and Downbeat.
Bytsura's portraits of AIDS activists have been exhibited in galleries in New York and Pennsylvania, as well as internationally at the National Gallery of Australia. Bytsura relocated to Panama in 2010, where he started Pinguino Photography. He has since worked with The Danilo Perez Foundation and the Panama Jazz Festival. Bill Bytsura, and Bill Bytsura on Facebook.