The “Seeing with the Body” workshops were set up concurrently with a youth conference on HIV/AIDS called “Taking Action!” which was held at the Gender Institute at the University of Toronto. A group of youth were drawn from a pool of youth that were chosen through an advisory board process and were also doing some expanded learning about HIV/AIDS in the other sessions. Service providers, HIV/AIDS councilors and gender educators were also present and gave the sessions some context for continuity and community perspectives.

The workshops consisted of discussion, looking at images of the body, considerations around AIDS representations, taking black and white photographic images in partners, and discussing the process. They young people were encouraged to make images that spoke through representations of the body their feelings and thoughts around HIV/AIDS. The youth themselves through their own investigations begin to help me explore what it means to 'see through the body'.

The young people also wrote about the process of taking their photographs, and reflected on their own image making, and the dominate representations that they saw around HIV/AIDS. As Sarah wrote:

“….from Wonder woman to women boxers and cartoon characters of powerful women…power and sexual women are all over the place. What are the implications of this for safer sex? How can we further explore and eroticize women’s sexual power without assuming this means they would demean men in other aspects of their relationship?’

Sarah’s images spoke to ways in which she saw this happening – and more. One image she made is of a smiling teenaged girl holding out an unraveled female condom. Her eyes are cut out of the frame and her face is out of focus – all of our attention is focused on the crisp, wet condom.

Another girl photographed her own hands in a variety of spaces. The photos are sensual and starkly black and white. She says, “I wanted to make people think about the uncouscious judgements we make.” While the spaces between what the girls say they are aiming to do in the photos is not always what we see, it deepens and thickens our uncovering.

The discussion that happened during the workshop was also tape recorded and transcribed and provides an interesting ‘next level’ of understanding and insight into the girls’ impressions and understandings of AIDS and sexuality.

Shannon Walsh