SUMMARY

Lives are devoted to the development of new drugs:
the professional lives of researchers and the life blood of research subjects
are twined in the pursuit of cures for disease. Through photographs and
testimonials we will illustrate this relationship and the background upon
which it is played out.

Medical advances in recent decades have helped to relieve the suffering and
prolong the lives of countless people, and those providing the balm have
reaped fortunes. Behind the successes of drugs like AZT are thousands
of anonymous Africans and Americans upon whose bodies these drugs were
tested and perfected. Our project strives to provide a forum for them to tell
their stories, and to use photographs to express the reality that words cannot.

We will document the experience of those involved as human subjects in clinical
drug trials conducted by western companies in Kenya, Zimbabwe and in
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Through testimonials and photographs, we will
get a sense of how successful the effort to secure informed consent has been,
how well the subjects understand the purpose of the trial, and why they are
involved in it.

Click here to read the full project proposal introduction.