The cover photo shoot for this issue was not the first time HIV advocate Alicia Diggs and photographer Miles Darden met. Years earlier they had met at a community business networking event in the Raleigh-Durham area of North Carolina.
“In the area that we live in, a lot of entrepreneurs and community people come together for different events,” Diggs said during a Zoom conversation with Darden and POSITIVELY AWARE. “You never know who you're going to see there.”
“The first time we met, I said, I’ve gotta do a shoot with her, she’s special,” Darden said.
“I like to document people’s lives and capture the essence of who they are.”
“I love the camera,” Diggs says. “I was telling Miles during the shoot that I was trying to do serious faces, but I’m so silly, everything is funny to me. When I’m doing photos, I have to think, Alicia, make a serious face. But I have so much fun with it.
“As a kid, I didn’t like photos for so many traumatic reasons,” she adds, “but once I found myself and the beauty in myself and really accepted myself and fell in love with myself, absolutely I love the camera. The camera allows me to tell a story with my expression, with whatever I wear, if I’m using a prop, whatever I’m doing. But it’s also fun because people who don’t know you, they can kind of get to know you through a photo.”
“I feel connected with her,” Darden said, “because I live with someone who has an immune deficiency condition, I’m always sensitive to that—watching people, how they live their lives, how they interact and how they feel about themselves in any situation, especially when some types of illnesses or diagnoses have a stigma attached to them. All I can think of her is joy, celebration, living her life. I’m proud of her; I’m excited that I get to be a part of that. I feel honored.”
As the conversation neared its end, Diggs said, “The art of photography, the art of sharing myself with other people—and to see the light shine through my life. I’m hoping people will see that in these pictures feel it for themselves.”