Through the lens

As a photojournalist, Taro Yamasaki photographed at-risk children in the United States and around the world — Nicaragua, Bosnia, Rwanda, the Middle East.

The Prints and Photographs Division recently acquired three collections that document such work by the Pulitzer Prize-winning photographer: “Children in Peril,” “Escaping Human Trafficking” and “Ryan White and the Battle Against AIDS” — the last a chronicle of the American teenager who became an international symbol of the fight against the disease.

People magazine had hired Yamasaki and reporter Bill Shaw to contribute to a special feature on living with AIDS, along with other teams in major cities across the U.S. The pair arrived at White’s home in Cicero, Indiana, in summer 1987 to begin work.

“I hadn’t met or photographed anyone with AIDS, though I was reading everything I could find about it,” Yamasaki recalled in an interview with the Library’s Picture This blog about his influential photographs of White.

White, then 15 years old, was born with hemophilia and contracted AIDS from a tainted blood transfusion. The local school refused to readmit White to classes when parents objected, incorrectly believing the disease might spread to other students.

Yamasaki describes meeting White for the first time, photographing his struggle and witnessing his miraculous transformation into an ambassador of sorts, inspiring empathy for the victims of AIDS. Upon hearing his story, pop superstar Elton John befriended White and his family.

White died in 1990, at age 18. Just after he passed, family and friends gathered in a circle for prayer. “They held hands, and (White’s mother) Jeanne said, ‘You can photograph this or you can join the circle, Taro,’” Yamasaki said. “I put my camera down and joined the circle, knowing full well that my editors would have wanted that picture.”

At the funeral, Yamasaki took one of his greatest photographs, capturing the power of White’s story. With permission, Yamasaki hid behind the piano as John performed “Skyline Pigeon.”

“In the middle of the song, I stood up,” he remembered, “hoping my hands weren’t shaking too much to get a sharp picture.” It was the perfect photograph.