For ImmediateRelease:
JourneysThrough Darkness – A biography of an award winning photographer’s crusade to find lightthrough the darkness of AIDS and related blindness.
A Biography by Alina Oswald
Photographs by Kurt Weston
Resources for purchasing & commenting onthe book:
*The new link for the print version on Blurb:
http://www.blurb.com/bookstore/detail/2899400
* The link to the e-book version on Amazon Kindle:
http://www.amazon.com/Journeys-Through-Darkness-Biography-ebook/dp/B006X1SJZS/ref=sr_1_3?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1327614121&sr=1-3
Comments/reviews can be posted on the Amazon Kindle version. If anybody wantsto leave a comment on the Blurb page, they need to have a Facebookaccount..
Another print version will be available soon on Amazon. Will keep you posted.
Foreword:“Finding Visionaries”
By Guido A. Sanchez, CenterLink Manager, New York City and Former CEO of HudsonPride Connections, an LGBT and HIV/AIDS Support Organization
“How could I, an openly gay and proud man, deny that AIDS is one of the single most important parts of myhistory, my community’shistory? AIDS activism continues to suffer today from apathy and puritanism,all the meanwhile our communities are still being decimated, and people are still being infected.
Since AIDS activism rose up within the community at-large in a very public and graphic way inthe mid-1980s, the AIDS community and artistscommunity have had inextricable ties. Artists have tried to represent their experiences with HIV / AIDS (such as the play Angels in America),voice their anger (such asany work by David Wojnarowicz), or force change (suchas ACT UP’s ‘Silence=Death’ posters). On a sadder note, there is the undeniable fact that AIDS hasdecimated our artists community –and anyone who has been a part of the movement has to ask themselves, how many future leaders,painters, writers,singers, dancers, creators, mentors, etc. have we lost to the virus over the last 25 plus years?
Not all of these visionaries were lost, and photographer Kurt Weston has chosen to share his own journeythrough darkness in his life andwork, with the help of biographer Alina Oswald. This book brings together pieces of a vision for a world withoutAIDS. I’ve never had theopportunity to meet Kurt, but now I feel like I understand the artist’s vision much more. Kurt’sopenness about his statusand his experience, and the way he synergizes that into his art, is a moving inspiration.Kurt cites in the book, he isinspired by those who are inspired by reason, intellect, and compassion, and as Alina weaves hisstory for us, we see those threetraits, and so much more, as Kurt navigates his life as an artist living with HIV. Alina takesus on a journey with Kurt, aswe find his artistic vision grow stronger when his vision becomes impaired through AIDSmedication, and as his life takes unexpected and surprising turns, all of which he navigates with grace, integrity, and above all,passion.
Now when I get asked how I can devote so much of my energy to AIDS activism, I know I can say ‘Kurtis the reason I do what I do.’ Kurthumbly attributes his sourceof inspiration to the many others who glean their own inspiration from reason and compassion. Kurt’s ability to journey through darkness, and to maintain an immovablepassion for helping others journey through their darkness will inspire othersto travel beyond their fears, hatred,prejudices, and find the light of compassion and understanding.”