In 2004, I went to take the test and I found out I was positive. When I first found out, since I did not really understand what HIV was, it did not make an impact on me. I took it like a fever, like a cold, like any sickness that keeps you in bed.

I don’t really know when or how I got infected. I was in a relationship with a woman. We enjoyed each other, we made love, I penetrated her without a condom, and she said, “Hmm, you did not wear a condom?” When I went to get tested, I remembered that moment and thought, maybe that was the time I got it.

Now when I take photos, I know how to analyze the situation, and this means a lot to me. I use that knowledge. When I take photos by my house, for example, I can’t use the tripod at night because I just moved in the area, and security is uncertain. But I found a way to use the camera to my advantage. I hold it steady for a long exposure, which pushes me to take photos in an original way.

I want to tell people in Haiti to stop talking about things they don’t know. When you hear that there is a disease that is a force of destruction, learn what AIDS is before you criticize us, before judging us on account of the disease.