In 1933 my mother, Marion Troeller, caught tuberculosis. As a child, I was intrigued with my mother's snapshots from that period of her life, which are included in these collages. What made these images so suddenly important when I created the project was my recognition that there are so many parallels between TB and AIDS. Both are deadly, infectious diseases, and in both cases patients have been victimized out of ignorance and unreasonable fear.
It was reported during the recent AIDS Conference in Toronto that 75 percent of the people with AIDS in the world now also suffer from TB. It is daunting to realize that, when I first made the TB-AIDS DIARY, I was mostly using TB as a historical reference point, not a current issue.
The models in the collages do not have either disease but, for me, symbolically stand in for those of us "at risk" at any given time. The revival of this show is testimony to this project's continuing relevance to the AIDS crisis, as well as to the potential of art as an educational and healing force in culture. I hope it inspires other universities, photographers, and curators to create, develop, and fund more such projects, and in those ways to further the role of art in relation to social/health issues.