Jesse Freidin - When Dogs Heal: Powerful Stories of People Living with HIV and the Dogs That Saved Them

Jesse with Pancake

W hen I was growing up, I faced an incredible amount of adversity and rejection that darkened my whole world, because not only was I a left-handed, daydreaming blond kid with a bowl cutI was visibly queer. I couldnt hide it, and I couldnt help it. Without role models to tell me that it was okay to be who I was, I became weighed down with stigma and negative thoughts.

As I got older, I learned that there were so many other interesting people in the world just like me. It simply took some digging to find them. I also learned that being different made me stronger. It gave me a perspective that helped me find my voice both creatively and personally. Now as an adult, I get the opportunity to help queer youth understand that just because they are not being loved by their family or community does not mean that they are unlovable. When I was young, I felt safest spending time with dogs. Dogs never judged me for how I looked or what I believed in. They simply let me get close to them and be myself. It didnt matter what I was wearing or how I identifiedI was always a complete and worthy person in the eyes of a dog and that connection deeply affected me. For that reason, the message that dogs heal us is foundational to this project and to so much of my photographic work as a whole. Dogs ground us, dogs stick with us and dogs provide the strongest of curesunconditional love.

The portraits in this book carry a deep message of acceptance, one that I hope readers will amplify. The future can be a place where hatred has no home, but only if young people continue to replace negative messages with their own beautiful stories of truth and positivity. If When Dogs Heal inspires just one of you to continue that work, the photographs will have succeeded.

There is great power in turning a stigmatizing narrative on its head. My aim in developing this series with Dr. Garofalo over a span of six years was to show people with HIV thriving, loving and being loveda visual story that is rarely told. The fact that I, a queer artist, can take the narrative away from people who believe HIV is a terrifying and shameful plague, and illustrate an honest, positive and beautiful experience of this terrible disease means that we are in an era when young people are free to take control of their own stories. And thats a beautiful moment to be alive.

Those of you who are young adults today no longer need to live in a world where difference is dangerous and stigma keeps you silent. That world is over.

This is what I hope this book will inspire you to do:

Get out and fight for queer rights.

Spread a message of love and acceptance.

Create safe spaces for all kinds of marginalized people.

Take control of the conversation.

Erase stigma.

That is how we can change the world.

Oh, and get a dog!

Introduction

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by Dr. Robert Garofalo

A s a pediatrician at Ann & Robert H. Lurie Childrens Hospital of Chicago and professor of pediatrics at Northwesterns Feinberg School of Medicine, I have devoted my career to helping adolescents and young people cope with and manage being diagnosed and living with HIV. But in 2010, the unexpected happened. I tested HIV positive. I felt like a failure. I felt damaged, ashamed and alone. I didnt eat. I had trouble sleeping. I was a mess. I had always prided myself on being a silly, goofy, fun-loving guy, but following my HIV diagnosis every day was a struggle. I was somehow unable to afford myself the same compassion I had spent my career giving to others. I saw my life slipping away. I knew I needed to take back controlI just didnt know how.

In early 2011, I took an unorthodox first step toward healing. On a frigid winter day, I rented a car and drove to Gurnee, Illinois, and adopted a ten-week-old Yorkie puppy I named Fred. Choosing to adopt Fred was an impulsive decision. It was not even quite rational. I had never had a pet before. I knew nothing of caring for a dog. I could barely care for myself. What in that moment made me think a dog was the answer? But I knew I was in deep trouble. I knew I needed to do something. And looking into that puppys eyes, I knew I had to have him.