Through the White Door is a documentary photography project by photojournalist Smiley Pool that spans over two decades following a remarkable group of people who faced the HIV/AIDS crisis head-on and saved a generation of children.
While the project began with two newspaper stories at the Houston Chronicle in the 1990’s, the rest of the work has been done on his vacation time for the 20 years that followed — around his staff photographer positions at the Chronicle and The Dallas Morning News. Some of this has been directly in collaboration with BIPAI and some of it on his own.
Over the years he continued to follow one of the first children in the world on a drug trial for highly active antiretroviral therapy until adulthood, and documented the formation and rise of the Baylor International Pediatric AIDS Initiative (BIPAI) from the organization’s inception in Texas to what it is today - the largest provider of care and treatment for HIV positive children in the world.
The project includes a 8 1⁄2 x 11 inch hardcover book with 212 pages of his photography.
Text for the book was written by Jessica Johns Pool, his spouse, who is a writer specializing in health care.
Together, TTWD is their way of sharing the stories of the extraordinary and inspirational people they have met along the way.
On September 26, 2019, to celebrate BIPAI’s 20th anniversary, a temporary exhibit was developed for a one-day event in Houston. Advance copies of the book (digital short run) were also produced for the celebration.
A larger (offset) print run was done after the event, and those books are available for purchase here.