Heart of a Lion: The Streets of Kingston at the Montserrat House

Photographer Joshua Cogan's ongoing work featuring those who are living with HIV/AIDS in Jamaica is featured by Montserrat House in Washington, DC. The event is a gallery showing and sale of a limited edition series. Each image shown has been printed in a limited edition of 10 and showcased in hand-built frames made from 100-year-old joists from the reconstruction of Montserrat House. A portion of the image sales proceeds will be returned to Jamaica to support HIV/AIDS programs through the MAC AIDS FUND.

"The work in this show is a representation of the beauty of Jamaica and its people," wrote Cogan for the Montserrat House online event description. "There are many experiences an outsider can have in Jamaica. Too often the experience is oversimplified, given to cultural tropes rehashed for tourists and consumers of its culture exports. Successive trips to the island allowed me to sink into the many layers of life. There is something about a people that have had promises made and broken one too many times. It is not a tangible sadness or defeat, but rather a bravery to go on, to live up."

A number of the featured images are a part of the Pulitzer Center project HOPE: Living and Loving with HIV in Jamaica, a multimedia reporting project that includes the poetry of Kwame Dawes. The work explores the experiences of people living with HIV/AIDS in Jamaica and examines the ways in which the disease has shaped their lives. See also the associated Emmy award-winning Pulitzer Center multimedia site LiveHopeLove.com.

Wednesday, June 13 - Tuesday, July 31
6-10pm
Montserrat House
2016 9th St NW
Washington, DC 20001

This event is free and open to the public. For additional information, view events at the Montserrat House.