David Kirby

In 2012, Frare told Life that David's father Bill Kirby expressed the family's feelings on the use of the picture by United Colors of Benetton when he told her "Listen, Therese. Benetton didn’t use us, or exploit us. We used them. Because of them, your photo was seen all over the world, and that’s exactly what David wanted."

Following the Life publication, the Kirby family allowed the clothing company United Colors of Benetton to use the image in a 1992 advertising campaign, feeling that its story would reach a worldwide audience. Fallout from the campaign came from many sources, including the Catholic Church which felt that the image was an inappropriate allusion to the historical imagery of the Virgin Mary cradling Jesus Christ after the crucifixion.

Frare's image also won the 2nd prize in the 1991 World Press Photo General News contest.

The image shows Kirby, near death, a vacant look in his face, and his father holding his son's head in a moment of grief. Other members of Kirby's immediate family are seated next to him. Life featured the image in its November 1990 issue, after which it gained first national and then international attention. The picture was later used by United Colors of Benetton in an advertising campaign, with the permission of Kirby's family, who felt that its use would show the devastating effects of AIDS.

David Lawrence Kirby (December 6, 1957 – May 5, 1990) was an American HIV/AIDS activist, and the subject of a photograph taken at his deathbed by Therese Frare. The image was published in Life magazine, which called it the "picture that changed the face of AIDS".