I Am Because We Are [Hardcover]

Kristen Ashburn (Photographer), Madonna (Foreword)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 15, 2009

I Am Because We Are is the companion volume to the acclaimed forthcoming documentary film directed by Nathan Rissman and written and produced by Madonna. This book of images by award-winning photojournalist Kristen Ashburn—culled from her work in Malawi and Africa over the past seven years as well as from her specially commissioned photographs for the film—provides an intimate look at the lives of eight Malawian children featured in the film and reveals the harsh reality of the AIDS pandemic throughout southern Africa.

The title is derived from the concept of “Ubuntu,” an idea in African spirituality that states that all of humanity is connected, that we cannot be ourselves without community, that an individual’s well-being is dependent upon the well-being of others.

These heart-wrenching stories are a call to action. In Malawi, a country of 13 million people, over one million are orphans. Looking into the hearts and minds of children who have endured unimaginable suffering, the book provides an unflinching view of life at the center of the global AIDS crisis. This is not just a story about orphans in Malawi, but about global responsibility and human interconnectedness.

I Am Because We Are includes a foreword by Madonna, an afterword by Ashburn, excerpts from interviews with Malawian children, their biographies, and extended captions. Author proceeds from the sale of the book will be donated to the charitable organization Raising Malawi for their extensive work with orphans throughout Malawi.

Editorial Reviews

From the Author

While preparing this book, I looked through thousands of images. Each brought back a memory.

I will never forget the first family I met who asked me if I could provide them with arvs -- the life-saving AIDS drugs. I was sitting in the living room of Wendy and her son, Valentine. They were both HIV positive.

Wendy looked me straight in the eye. As she talked, she labored to breathe: "Is it true that in your country people no longer die of this hiv?"

It was a question I would be asked over and over. People had heard that the drugs existed, and wanted to know how they could get them. With so many in need, I was completely overwhelmed. I convinced myself that I was only there as a journalist and that I could help the most by documenting the crisis. Now, looking back, I could have found a way to provide the drugs. And I should have. I could have helped to save one person. I could have saved Valentine.

Always eager to help, Valentine tagged along as I conducted interviews in the neighborhood. Once, trying to brighten his day and mine, we ate fast food and saw the movie Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Afterwards he practiced his karate kicks and talked about what he would do when he got better.

Valentine died a year later. He was ten years old.

AIDS drugs are now cheaper and more accessible then ever. We've run out of excuses. Valentine's death was preventable, and so are the deaths of millions of hiv-positive people in sub-Saharan Africa. This is not just about medicine, though. It's about involvement. It's about elevating people out of poverty, and addressing the unjust distribution of resources.

These images span my journey through Botswana, Zimbabwe, South Africa, and Malawi -- all countries heavily affected by the virus. Much of what I experienced I can never convey in words. Each person in this book allowed me into their lives and shared their most difficult times so that we could bear witness to their suffering. Their hope, and mine, is that their stories will help us understand the heartbreaking reality of the pandemic and just how much is at stake.

About the Author

Kristen Ashburn’s photographs and stories from the Middle East, Europe, and Africa have appeared in many publications worldwide. Her accolades include a 2007 Emmy Award nomination, two World Press Photo prizes, a Getty Foundation grant in 2006, Canon’s Female Photojournalist Award in 2004, and other honors. She began photographing the impact of AIDS in southern Africa in 2001, and since then has also produced stories on the war in Iraq, Jewish settlers and suicide bombers in Israel’s occupied territories, and the aftermath of the tsunami in Sri Lanka and Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans. In addition to her humanitarian photography, Ashburn is one of the directors of Through the Eyes of Children: The Rwanda Project, a charity that teaches photography to Rwandan orphans of the 1994 genocide and supports them through the sale of their images. Ashburn lives in New York City and is represented by Contact Press Images.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 180 pages
• Publisher: powerHouse Books (January 15, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1576874826
• ISBN-13: 978-1576874820
• Product Dimensions: 10.7 x 0.9 x 10.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,094,650 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars AIDS Has Killed More Than 25 Million, February 2, 2009

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K. Jadon - See all my reviews
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This review is from: I Am Because We Are (Hardcover)

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Author & Book Views On A Healthy Life!

Book Review: I Am Because We Are (PowerHouse Books, 2008) by Kristen Ashburn with a forward by Madonna


A FirstLook Feature

Recognized yearly, World AIDS Day raises global awareness of the spread of the disease. AIDS is caused by the transmission of HIV infection, and has killed more than 25 million people, approximately 2 million of them in 2007. It is estimated that 33 million are living with HIV, many of which do not have access to recently improved antiretroviral treatment and care. The worst hit region is Sub-Saharan Africa, home to 67% of the world's HIV cases. World AIDS Day is a World Summit of Ministers of Health on Programmes for AIDS Prevention initiative, first begun in 1988.

Every day in Malawi, Sub-Saharan Africa, people die of AIDS. They are mothers, fathers, sisters, and brothers. Who's left? Orphans. More than 1 million of them.

I Am Because We Are is the powerful photo accompaniment to the film documentary by the same title. Photographed by the award-winning photojournalist Kristen Ashburn, the pictures portray the lives and deaths of the young left behind, in some cases to fend for themselves, and exemplifies the powerful truths of a people's demise.

"I Am Because We Are" is an African philosophy known as Ubuntu. Incorporated by Nelson Mandela as a founding principle for the new South Africa, it has been described by Desmond Tutu to mean, "as the proper self-assurance that comes from knowing that we belong to a greater whole and are diminished when others are humiliated or diminished, when others are tortured or oppressed." In the forward, Madonna writes, "As my friend Bill Clinton defines it, Ubuntu means that what we have in common is more important than our interesting differences."

Together, Kristen Ashburn and Madonna have outlined the purpose of I Am Because We Are as a book which will raise awareness of the continuation of the AIDS epidemic in Malawi, thus helping end the vicious cycle of poverty--disease--death---poverty, which begins anew with each orphan. Inside the book you'll see the stark reality of a world without food, medicine, and education. Sure, we in the West know about AIDS in Africa, we read about it in the news, but the photos add an element of humanity to our fellow man by putting an individual's name to each face. For each child's photograph, a brief history, partially written in the child's voice, explains how he or she became an orphan. More importantly, throughout the book, Madonna highlights what her organization, Raising Malawi has done to make a difference in each child's life.

Though it is heart-breaking to see the photos of children's lives interrupted, I Am Because We Are, is a poignant reminder that there are those who still do good, striving to change the inequities of the world with their talents and financial abilities. Proceeds from the sale of I Am Because We Are will be donated to Raising Malawi, a charitable organization founded by Madonna and Michael Berg, and will be used for their work with the orphans of Malawi.

Kristen Ashburn is a documentary photographer who has received numerous honors including a nomination for the 28th Annual Emmy Awards (2007), NPPA- Best of Photojournalism (2oo7, 2006, 2003), the John Faber Award- Overseas Press Club of America (2006) and two World Press Photo prizes (2005, 2003). The Getty Grant 2006, Canon's Female Photojournalist Award in 2004, and the Marty Forscher Fellowship for Humanistic Photography 2003. In 2004 she was recognized as one of Photo District News '30 under 30 photographers' and participated in the prestigious World Press Photo "Joop Swart" Master Class. In 2003 she was a speaker at the TED Conference [...]

She began to photograph the impact of AIDS in southern Africa in 2001. Ashburn's work has also taken her to Iraq a year following the US-led invasion; Israel and the Palestinian Territories, Sri Lanka in the immediate aftermath of the tsunami; Russia to cover the spread of MDR-tuberculosis in the penal system. Her work has appeared in many publications including Time, Newsweek, US New & World Report, Life and others.

5 Stars