ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Kristen Ashburn - Photographer
Kristen Ashburn's photographs bring us face-to-face with real people in desperate circumstances. Taking us to the intimate spaces of her subjects -- the victims of war, disaster, epidemic -- she elicits the sublime sadness and resolve of human beings in suffering.

Why you should listen

Kristen Ashburn's poignant photographs bring us into close contact with individuals in the midst of enormous hardship -- giving a human face to struggles that much of the world knows only as statistics and blurbs on the news. She has photographed the people of Iraq a year after the U.S. invasion, Jewish settlers in Gaza, suicide bombers, the penal system in Russia, victims of tuberculosis and the aftermath of the tsunami in Sri Lanka and Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans. One of her more recent works, BLOODLINE: AIDS and Family, looked at the human impact of AIDS in Africa.

Her unflinching photographs from the Middle East, Europe, and Africa have appeared in many publications including The New Yorker, TIME, Newsweek, and Life. She has won numerous awards, including the NPPA's Best of Photojournalism Award and two World Press Photo prizes.

More profile about the speaker
Kristen Ashburn | Speaker | TED.com
TED2003

Kristen Ashburn: The face of AIDS in Africa

Kristen Ashburn: Kristen Ashburn e as suas fotos dilacerantes da SIDA

Filmed:
461,648 views

Nesta palestra documentário comovente, a fotógrafa Kristen Ashburn partilha imagens inesquecíveis do impacto causado pela SIDA em África.
- Photographer
Kristen Ashburn's photographs bring us face-to-face with real people in desperate circumstances. Taking us to the intimate spaces of her subjects -- the victims of war, disaster, epidemic -- she elicits the sublime sadness and resolve of human beings in suffering. Full bio

Double-click the English transcript below to play the video.

00:12
When I first arrivedchegou in beautifulbonita ZimbabweZimbábue,
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Quando cheguei à bela Zimbabué,
00:15
it was difficultdifícil to understandCompreendo that 35 percentpor cento of the populationpopulação
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foi difícil perceber que 35% da população
00:20
is HIVHIV positivepositivo.
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era HIV positivo.
00:23
It really wasn'tnão foi untilaté I was invitedconvidamos to the homescasas of people
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Era mesmo difícil, até ter sido convidada
para as casas das pessoas
00:27
that I startedcomeçado to understandCompreendo the humanhumano tollPedágio of the epidemicepidemia.
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e começar a perceber o tormento
que a a epidemia causava.
00:32
For instanceinstância, this is HerbertHerbert with his grandmotheravó.
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Por exemplo,
este é o Herbert com a sua avó.
00:36
When I first metconheceu him, he was sittingsentado on his grandmother'scasa da avó lapcolo.
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Quando o conheci,
ele estava sentado no colo da avó.
00:40
He has been orphanedórfão, as bothambos of his parentsparentes diedmorreu of AIDSAIDS/SIDA,
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Tinha ficado órfão há pouco, porque os pais
tinham morrido ambos com SIDA,
00:43
and his grandmotheravó tooktomou careCuidado of him untilaté he too diedmorreu of AIDSAIDS/SIDA.
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e a avó tomou conta dele
até ele morrer também de SIDA.
00:47
He likedgostei to sitsentar on her lapcolo
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Ele gostava de se sentar ao colo dela
00:49
because he said that it was painfuldoloroso for him to liementira in his ownpróprio bedcama.
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porque dizia que tinha dores
quando ficava deitado na cama.
00:54
When she got up to make teachá, she placedcolocou him in my ownpróprio lapcolo
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Quando ela se levantou para fazer chá,
pô-lo ao meu colo.
00:58
and I had never feltsentiu a childcriança that was that emaciatedemaciado.
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Eu nunca tinha sentido
uma criança tão magra.
01:05
Before I left, I actuallyna realidade askedperguntei him if I could get him something.
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Antes de sair, perguntei-lhe
se queria que eu lhe desse alguma coisa.
01:09
I thought he would askpergunte for a toybrinquedo, or candydoces,
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Eu pensei que ele ia pedir
um brinquedo, ou um doce,
01:11
and he askedperguntei me for slipperschinelos,
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mas ele pediu-me meias
01:14
because he said that his feetpés were coldfrio.
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porque tinha os pés frios.
01:17
This is JoyceJoyce who'squem é -- in this picturecenário -- 21.
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Esta é a Joyce, nesta foto,
que tem 21 anos.
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SingleÚnico mothermãe, HIVHIV positivepositivo.
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Mãe solteira, HIV positiva.
01:23
I photographedfotografado her before and after
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Eu fotografei-a antes e depois
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the birthnascimento of her beautifulbonita babybebê girlmenina, IssaIssa.
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do nascimento da sua filha, Issa.
01:28
And I was last weeksemana walkingcaminhando on LafayetteLafayette StreetRua in ManhattanManhattan
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A semana passada, eu estava a passear
na Rua Lafayette em Manhattan
01:31
and got a call from a womanmulher who I didn't know,
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e recebi um telefonema duma mulher
que não conhecia.
01:34
but she calledchamado to tell me that JoyceJoyce had passedpassado away
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Ela ligou-me para me dizer
que a Joyce tinha morrido
01:37
at the ageera of 23.
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aos 23 anos.
01:39
Joyce'sJoyce mothermãe is now takinglevando careCuidado of her daughterfilha,
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A mãe da Joyce
toma agora conta da sua filha,
01:42
like so manymuitos other ZimbabweanDo Zimbábue childrencrianças
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tal como muitas outras crianças do Zimbabué
01:44
who'vequem tem been orphanedórfão by the epidemicepidemia.
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que ficaram órfãs por causa da epidemia.
01:46
So a fewpoucos of the storieshistórias.
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São algumas das histórias.
01:48
With everycada picturecenário,
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Mas em cada fotografia,
01:50
there are individualsindivíduos who have fullcheio livesvidas
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são pessoas que têm vidas completas
01:55
and storieshistórias that deservemerecer to be told.
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e histórias que merecem ser contadas.
01:57
All these picturesAs fotos are from ZimbabweZimbábue.
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Todas estas fotografias são do Zimbabué.
03:42
ChrisChris AndersonAnderson: KirstenKirsten, will you just take one minuteminuto,
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Chris Anderson: Kirsten, num minuto,
03:44
just to tell your ownpróprio storyhistória of how you got to AfricaÁfrica?
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pode-nos contar a história
de como foi parar a África?
Kirsten Ashburn: Hmmm, meu Deus.
03:49
KirstenKirsten AshburnAshburn: MmmMmm, goshPoxa.
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03:50
CACA: Just --
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03:51
KAKA: ActuallyNa verdade, I was workingtrabalhando at the time, doing productionProdução
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Na verdade, eu estava empregada,
na altura, a fazer produção
03:55
for a fashionmoda photographerfotógrafo.
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para um fotógrafo de moda.
03:57
And I was constantlyconstantemente readingleitura the NewNovo YorkYork TimesVezes,
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E eu estava constantemente
a ler no New York Times,
04:00
and stunnedatordoado by the statisticsEstatisticas, the numbersnúmeros.
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e ficava abismada com as estatísticas,
com os números.
04:04
It was just frighteningassustador.
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Era simplesmente assustador.
04:06
So I quitSair my jobtrabalho
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Então eu demiti-me
04:08
and decideddecidiu that that's the subjectsujeito that I wanted to tackleatacar.
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e decidi que aquele era o assunto
de que eu queria tratar.
04:12
And I first actuallyna realidade wentfoi to BotswanaBotswana, where I spentgasto a monthmês --
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No início, fui para o Botswana
onde estive um mês,
04:16
this is in DecemberDezembro de 2000 --
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em Dezembro de 2000,
04:18
then wentfoi to ZimbabweZimbábue for a monthmês and a halfmetade,
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depois fui para o Zimbabué
durante um mês e meio,
04:21
and then wentfoi back again this MarchMarço de 2002
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depois voltei lá de novo em Março de 2002
04:24
for anotheroutro monthmês and a halfmetade in ZimbabweZimbábue.
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para mais um mês e meio no Zimbabué.
04:27
CACA: That's an amazingsurpreendente storyhistória, thank you.
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CA: É uma história extraordinária,
obrigado.
04:29
KBKB: ThanksObrigado for lettingde locação me showexposição these.
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KB: Obrigada por me deixarem contá-la.
(Aplausos)
Translated by Bruno Gomes
Reviewed by Rafael Eufrasio

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ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Kristen Ashburn - Photographer
Kristen Ashburn's photographs bring us face-to-face with real people in desperate circumstances. Taking us to the intimate spaces of her subjects -- the victims of war, disaster, epidemic -- she elicits the sublime sadness and resolve of human beings in suffering.

Why you should listen

Kristen Ashburn's poignant photographs bring us into close contact with individuals in the midst of enormous hardship -- giving a human face to struggles that much of the world knows only as statistics and blurbs on the news. She has photographed the people of Iraq a year after the U.S. invasion, Jewish settlers in Gaza, suicide bombers, the penal system in Russia, victims of tuberculosis and the aftermath of the tsunami in Sri Lanka and Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans. One of her more recent works, BLOODLINE: AIDS and Family, looked at the human impact of AIDS in Africa.

Her unflinching photographs from the Middle East, Europe, and Africa have appeared in many publications including The New Yorker, TIME, Newsweek, and Life. She has won numerous awards, including the NPPA's Best of Photojournalism Award and two World Press Photo prizes.

More profile about the speaker
Kristen Ashburn | Speaker | TED.com