Portraits of 27 men and women who are HIV positive have gone on display in Brighton in an attempt to show that people of all backgrounds can contract the virus. Anca, 29, was diagnosed with HIV 13 years ago in her home town of Bucharest in Romania, and lived in fear of "being found out"
Italian photographer Edo Zollo travelled around the UK for a year capturing images of people of different ages who are living with HIV. Mikey, 24, was diagnosed in March 2010 and said it was a "big shocker", but it had made him grow up. "My priorities aren’t the same any more," the Londoner said. Mikey died of an Aids-related illness a few months after his photo was taken
The exhibition at the Brighton Dome is in aid of the Sussex Beacon charity, which has a specialist HIV care centre in the city. Rachel, 49, from St Albans, Hertfordshire, has lived with HIV for more than nine years, and after the initial "terror and despair" now has a positive attitude
Edo Zollo created the "Stand Tall, Get Snapped" exhibition following his experience of having the treatment post-exposure prophylaxis (PEP) when he was exposed to the virus through unprotected sex. He photographed Max, 24, from Brighton, who said he was comforted by knowing being HIV positive was no longer "a death sentence"
Maurice, 71, from Stoke-on-Trent, was diagnosed with HIV 30 years ago, when there were no treatments. He feared he "would quickly become ill and die" and 10 years later he was diagnosed with Aids and given six months to live. "From then on, I lived each day as if it were my last... I have never ceased to be amazed as goals that I set were reached and passed," he said
Antonio, 23, from Harlow Town, Essex, found out he was HIV positive last year, but has refused to let it get him down. "I have got all the support and still feel great and strong and keep positive to reach my goals," he said. Edo Zollo's exhibition, on until Saturday 8 March, marks 30 years since the death of Terence Higgins, the first man to die of Aids in the UK
