2014 Evan Ortiz – “HIV” These photographs are copyright Evan Ortiz and are used here by permission. They may not be used elsewhere without his permission. Tom gets a tattoo finished at Voodoo Monkey Tattoo, in Rochester, NY. Tom has slowly begun to cover his body in tattoos. They are symbols for the milestones in his life and living with HIV for over 30 years. STORY DESCRIPTION: Thomas Somerville, age 53, from Rochester, NY, has been living with HIV for over 30 years. The LGBT community of Tom’s generation lost a large number of people the time he contracted the virus and he is very lucky to have survived. His experiences in dealing with loss, struggling to remain healthy, and the persistent threat of death, has shaped Tom into the compassionate man he is today. “To live compassionately” is his mantra and he shows this compassion in his everyday life, from volunteering, to teaching yoga and painting classes to people suffering with AIDS. Tom, however, is still searching for the life he did not think he would be alive to experience. “I never thought I’d be 50, and now here I am … I have to figure out which way I’m going to go.” Tom kisses his Egyptian Grey Parrot, Jezebel, alongside his dog, Pip. Tom is currently single but he receives much love from his animals. He also owns a cat, a rabbit, and another bird. Tom demonstrates a yoga pose as he teaches his class in the Memorial Art Gallery, in Rochester, NY. Tom started doing yoga when he was sick with Pott’s disease, a disabling form of tuberculosis in the spine that made him incapable of walking. He discovered that as the more practiced yoga, his ability to walk gradually returned. Tom buys flowers for a friend’s birthday at Wegman’s grocery store. HIV makes him more susceptible to other illnesses, so his 3X daily cocktail of twelve different pills is crucial to maintaining his health.Tom tries not to let his condition get in the way of his life. “Some of me wishes I didn’t have it because it would be much easier, but then I wouldn’t be the person I am today because of it. I wouldn’t of learned the lessons I did. It was a tougher walk, but it made me a tougher person. I don’t know if I would have developed the compassion I have without it. It’s easier to be shallow than it is to be enlightened.” Tom works on a self-portrait. Tom will usually work on his paintings at night when he comes home from work. Most of his work depicts Buddhism, his personal experiences as a gay man, and other gay men in his life. Tom closes the elevator door for another resident of his housing development. He lives at the Pinnacle Place, a housing development for the physically and mentally disabled. Tom stretches before he goes to bed. Tom gives Mary Young, visiting nurse and friend, a hug goodbye in his home after a checkup following septoplasty surgery. Mary first met Tom when he was suffering from Pott’s disease, a form of tuberculosis in the spine, and they have remained close friends. Tom says he his happy because of the experiences in life but is unsure of the future – a future he wasn’t expecting, “That’s what I want out of life. To surround myself with animals that love me for me, to take care and be around people. I love people, I love Cheryl, I love Mary, my students, little things to make people happy. I never thought I would be 50, and now here I am. It’s a bit scary…I have to figure out where I’m going to go from here.”
