In his new two-volume book, Cianni brings together decades of photographs and writing that document love, loss and survival from inside the Aids crisis
Since it first made headlines in 1981, Aids has become the third most deadly pandemic in human history, with 44 million dead as of 2026. But today, what was once a death sentence is now a manageable condition, with an estimated 40.9 million people living with HIV and new studies showing a path to the cure on the horizon. For photographer Vincent Cianni, these are not mere numbers, facts and stats, but a life’s history that forms the heart and soul of Archive/Journal: 1985-1995/2001, published by Daylight Books.
Crafted as an intimate journey across two volumes that comprise his public and private lives, Cianni weaves an epic tale of love, loss and survival during the height of the Aids crisis as seen from the inside looking out. For decades, these personal photographs and journals have been tucked away in the recesses of his archive, resting in peace until the arrival of Covid-19 in 2020. Then a professor at Parsons School of Design, Cianni was relegated to teaching classes online and had plenty of time on his hands. Confronted with the harrowing spectre of disinformation, disease, disability and death, he returned to this work with a fevered passion that bespoke the unbreakable thread connecting the past to the present.
Cianni begins his story in 1985, the year Aids made global headlines after Hollywood superstar Rock Hudson announced he was dying from the disease, a single act of courage against a vicious code of silence that destroyed countless lives. At the time, same sex activity was still illegal in more than a dozen states, while televangelist Jerry Falwell claimed, “Aids is God’s judgment of a society that does not live by his rules.”
Then 23 years old, Cianni was just getting his start as a documentary photographer who devoted his practice to social activism. But with Aids affecting both his life and loved ones, the line between artist and subject vanished without a trace, transforming the camera into a personal diary. At the same time, he kept a journal that he shared with his partner Scott, beginning it with their decision to test for HIV. Scott’s test came back positive, while for the time being, Cianni's was negative. “I created this as a record of my life in connection with my partners, lovers and friends,” Cianni says.
In Volume 1, titled Archive, 1985-1995, Cianni is seen hitting the streets of New York City during Pride, where electric scenes of joy and resistance came into focus. The consummate participant-observer, Cianni blends reportage and portraiture with a knowing eye and a loving heart, embracing all comrades who took to the streets to act up. Here Church Ladies for Choice, Lesbians for Patsy Cline, Radical Faeries3 and Dykes on Bikes set Fifth Avenue ablaze, while LGBTQ+ legends like Marsha P Johnson and Sylvia Rivera mingle amid a glittering throng of drag queens, military veterans and dancing cowboys.
But, as Cianni knew all too well, this moment of collective release was just one of 365 days the battle with Aids was fought. Throughout Volume 1, he builds an intricate timeline encompassing queer activism, law, crime, science, healthcare, media, pop culture, sport and fine art – each a touchstone that reveals the depths of his personal politics. With equal virtuosity, Cianni has created a series of collages exclusively for the book, meticulously preserving historic scenes from newspapers, magazines, resistance projects by Gran Fury, and Act Up calls to action as context for the political landscape of the era.
The hallmark of Cianni’s work is his position as an insider, telling the story as it is lived with equal parts courage and grace. Where Volume 1 is filled with high energy scenes of public life, Volume 2, titled Journal: 1985-2001, is a quiet and reflective meditation drawn from personal writings and intimate photographs related to his experiences with HIV and losing loved ones including Scott to Aids. It is here, in these deeply private passages, that we encounter words too heavy to speak aloud and begin to understand why these photographs have been locked away for years on end.
“The tough part was going through my journals. It was pure fucking hell. I was a mess,” Cianni says. “Writing was a way to process trauma on a daily basis, to put it down on paper so that I could understand these things and let them go – but the experience of going back through it all, experiencing the HIV/Aids of friends, lovers and myself was a really difficult thing.”
In this volume we see Aids stalk a generation of young men, laying siege to their bodies and igniting the flames of rebellion. Faced with abandonment, they banded together and fought back, refusing to allow even one death to have been in vain. Cianni lovingly curated his journals with an unsparing eye, allowing us to see moments of profound vulnerability, loss, and healing. “Being queer is an act of political resistance in itself,” Cianni says. “I hope young generations will see that empowerment can come by using your own free will and deciding the direction of your health.”
Archive/Journal: 1985-1995/2001 by Vincent Cianni is published by Daylight Books and is out today.
