We were informed of this new book and documentary project by a photographer and journalist from Montreal and wanted to let all young adult woman who had breast cancer and a mastectomy know…maybe this project can interest you…
Here is a little more info on the project from Phil Carpenter leading it:
In October 2006 I did a photo essay feature for The Gazette (Montreal)
called Moving Beyond Mastectomy (October 28, 2006) featuring 6 women who had
mastectomies. It was a set of black and white portraits printed on 3 pages,
of women in their environment with the scars from their surgery visible and
obvious. Because of the positive feedback we received for this story I plan
now to expand this project into a book and short documentary.
The project is two-pronged. One part is to do a book of 100 portraits in
colour, of women from across Canada who have had mastectomies. The idea is
to have one portrait per page with a written first person account about any
aspect of that person’s experience with mastectomy on the facing page.
The second part of the project will be a short documentary on DVD that will
look at the issue through the lives of between 2 to 4 young women in their
20’s and 30’s, by following them before, during and after a mastectomy. It
is to tell the story of how they came to the decision, how it has affected
their lives and how they came to terms with the decision and the experience.
Most of the portraits will show the women in environmental settings and will
be well lit and framed to reveal each person in a flattering aspect. They
may not all be topless but the scars from their mastectomies or
reconstruction will be visible and obvious. The women will be of different
ethic and racial backgrounds and will vary in age.
The purpose of the project is to explore the cultural meaning of the breast
in western society by addressing the question, is a woman less of one
without breasts? Is she a whole woman? It will look at the psychological
trauma of losing the breast, the fear of experiencing that loss and the
discomfort and uncertainty in witnessing it. By showing these women topless
and scarred, but beautiful and confident I will take on popular views about
the role of the breast in our perception of beauty, femininity, sexuality
and womanhood, and hopefully prompt conversation, thought and awareness.
Production of the project will be completed by the end of this year (2010)
and the final project will be ready for publication by October 2011.
If you are interested, please contact:
Phil Carpenter, Photojournalist
The Gazette
{encode=”[email protected]” title=”Phil Carpenter”}
