Photographer Reveals He Has AIDS in Intimate Portrait Series of Friends and Family

Images used with permission

As photographers, we are not only inspired by what we see around us. We are also inspired by how we feel and what we are going through; many of us using those as motivations for our next projects. And more often than not, these personal series reveal more of us as individual human beings than as artists.

This is exactly what Seattle-based photographer Adrain Chesser did in his latest series, except his version is far more revealing of himself than most of us would care to go. You see, Chesser has recently been diagnosed with AIDS and he had to find a way to tell his friends and family. He’s always considered photography to be his “highest spiritual practice” and he’s always used it as his main medium to capture those moments in his life that make strong impressions on him so it only made sense that he’d use it somehow to break the sad news to his loved ones.

In a stroke of inspiration, Chesser invited each one of them to his studio for an intimate photo shoot. One by one, he revealed the heartbreaking news to them, and then captured their individual reactions on camera. These revelations resulted in the series entitled “I Have Something to Tell You,” a powerful and poignant project that will deeply move even the hardest of hearts.

Of the photographs, Chesser says,

“While these photos are probably the worst pictures ever taken of my friends, they are undoubtedly the most beautiful.”

On a personal level, I think we can all agree.

See the rest of the images from the series after the jump.

Via Imgur

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