—MAURICE ANTHONY
"Before I found out about my HIV, I was just another youth. I was an angry youth.... When I found out my HIV diagnosis, I was a junior in high school. I had nobody to talk to. I felt I was on my last breath.... I’m not happy that I’m HIV positive, but I can truly say it has given me a lot of positive thoughts on what life is and how important it is." (exhibit narrative excerpt: Focus on Living)

"An inspiring and educational book.  . . Banish's portraits rivet and resonate. In the tradition of Dorothea Lange and James Agee, Focus on Living documents social and psychological phenomena in a way that makes readers look at what they otherwise might avoid—and in the looking, see with fresh eyes." —From Jeanne Braham, co-author of Starry, Starry Night: Provincetown's Response to the AIDS Epidemic

“FOCUS ON LIVING accomplishes mightily what it sets out to do: Re-empower the icon of the individual in the face of an epidemic too often symbolized by the anonymity and sterility of statistics.”
—From AIDS Health Project, University of California, San Francisco

"Banish's unadorned portraits, often shot at her subjects' homes, are subtle and dignified, and the narratives have a lucid strength, even in despair. … Banish takes care to include people from all walks of life, fostering an expanded sense of community and further breaking the silence and statistics that surround people living with HIV and AIDS." 
—From Publishers Weekly

"I want to compliment you on the easy system you have set up for receiving, displaying and sending back the display." —LGBT Programs & Services, University of Nebraska–Lincoln

"… Photographer and interviewer Banish successfully reveals the diversity of HIV's victims: they are of all races, ages, sexual orientations, and social classes, and they live in cities, towns, and rural areas. …. Banish's photographs serve primarily as illustrations to the text and wisely try not to detract from the individuals' stories." 
—From Library Journal

"As a community, we learned so much from having the exhibit here. Each photo and caption so clearly showed a "Focus on Living"--that an HIV positive diagnosis doesn't mean that life is over. It was great for students and teachers alike to receive this message--to see people who are living with (and not dying of) HIV/AIDS--so that we can overcome the stigma that so often accompanies this positive test result. One Seventh Grade student "learned that you can move on even though something so terrible has happened to you. You shouldn't be stuck in a rut and say, 'Oh well, it's over; I should just wait for the end to come.' Instead of that, you should use your knowledge and experience to inspire others to do good. You should live in the present, because if you live too far in the future, you don't happen.' "
—Kent Place Middle School, Summit, NJ