save the date!
Resonance
When we began this project one year ago, I hoped with all my heart that we would be able to create a project with universal resonance. I knew it was a challenge.
Breast cancer is a disease that is both individual and universal. It hurts as as woman, and it hurts us as women. It changes the lives of men and children, mothers and sisters. It is everywhere. It is a secret.
My collaborator, the photographic genius that is Elli Rader, spent countless hours discussing with me what cancer means. We’ve talked about why it affects us all, and how it affects us each. We knew that exploring breast cancer was a task for which we were under-qualified. We decided to try it anyway. Because of our models and our readers, we learn more and more every day about survival. We strive to capture what that means in art. We hope we do it justice.
Yesterday, we got the news that a photograph born of this project has been selected for display in an incredible project. Woman as Photographer, as explored by the Minneapolis Photo Center in cooperation with some of the most amazing women in the Twin Cities’ art scene, has selected a photograph of Elli’s for display in an upcoming exhibit that seeks to explore the artistry of women who speak to women.
I am so proud of Elli for her fearlessness as she explores the artist within herself. I am even more proud of Elli for the artistry she unlocks in her subjects, and for the truths that she shares with those who see her work.
I’m proud to be her friend, to be her partner in this project, and to collaborate with her as we seek to share your stories. Thanks to all of you who have helped Of Scars to reach an ever-broader audience. We can’t thank you enough for helping us to find and to share the beauty of survival. Your stories are what makes this project resonate with survivors and those who love them.
I’m proud of you, too.
a bit of thanks.
the other day someone contacted me to say that he has a friend recently diagnosed with breast cancer who would be interested in hearing more about our project, seeing some of the photographs and meeting us. and would it be okay if he gave her my email?
YES.
and this answer is the same, without pause, to *any* of you, whether i know you or not – YES.
right after the opening exhibit and panel discussion we held on october 1st, kate and i sat down with a branding expert, who asked us both difficult and easy questions about the direction of the project, our immediate plans, and our long term plans. when asked what our overarching, long term, biggest picture goal was – kate said:
“breast cancer runs in my family. if any of my three daughters are faced with the diagnosis, i want them to feel confident and comfortable making decisions about their treatment based on their survival and not their appearance. if i can help *anyone’s* daughter make a decision from that place, this will have all been worth it.”
i didn’t set out to write a what-we-are-thankful-as-an-organization blog post, but the timing of what i am thankful for in regard to this project is impossible to ignore. i am deeply, humbly thankful for the honor and the privilege of being sought out as a resource for a newly diagnosed woman. if there is anything at all i can do to help her in the struggles that she will inevitably face – by showing her photographs that we have taken in the project, or introducing her to the amazing women we have met and helping her build a network, or just having coffee with her and listening to her and being there – i will do it.
and i am SO thankful to be in the position of being able to do that for someone.
in an instant
a good friend, survivor, of scars model sent us this wonderful video that she uses when she does speaking engagements to raise breast cancer awareness – we want to share it with you.
Taboo-Smashin’
Through the magic of Twitter, I was directed to a link for the 007 Breasts Web Site, a fascinating little project that explores the American psyche in regard to breasts.
It’s a challenging look at the taboo of breasts in our daily lives, and its message works very well in partnership with our own. There are lots of issues that factor in to how our culture deals with breast cancer, but chief among them is the issue of body taboos: If unaltered, biological breasts are “sinful”, even when breast-feed a baby, how are we supposed to discuss and process what happens to them if cancer changes them? If “normal”, healthy breasts don’t look like a media ideal before a lumpectomy or mastectomy, how are we supposed to embrace their beauty in a new form?
It all boils down to the incredibly complex interaction between our media-saturated culture and our collective body image.
“Normal” breasts are as unique as the individual who “wears” them, and the 007 Breasts site contains page after page of non-sexual, galleries filled with images of normal, actual breasts–and a few images of breasts with unusual histories, as well. Check out the site, and ask yourself how these images differ from the breasts you see on billboards, in magazines, and on television. Would your body image be different if you’d been raised to think of breasts like these as normal, as opposed to those you see in advertising?
accolades and new (exclusive) things to see
last month salon owner Jon Clifford of Accolades Salon/Spa invited the women who have participated in some of our shoots to come in for a day of pampering and dress ups. later that night they hit the stage at a hair show to represent his salon and our project, and to celebrate their beauty and strength.
the ladies got two standing ovations and absolutely lit up the stage. head over to our facebook page to see the photos, and while there please give us some Like.
in other news, we want to give you a head’s up that next week we will show you some exclusive photos and information from our Oct 1st exhibit for those of you who weren’t able to make it that night, or who were there but didn’t have access to it via QR readers, or who just want to see it again! we will take those pages live for a week, and then take them back down again, so watch for it.
thanks, as always, for your support!
-elli rader
Recommended Reading
In this morning’s Huffington Post, author Lea Lane has written a touching and wonderful ode to her own scars. Definitely worth the read.
In the piece, Lane points out that for her, the scars that nobody sees are the hardest ones to heal. I suspect that statement would be true for many of us.
In that spirit, I offer a challenge to all of us today. What can you do, right now, to honor and care for the most painful parts of yourself?
Be gentle with yourself today. Take a bit of extra care. And know that you’re not alone.
not enough words to say thank you
it really does seem that asking people to look at the beauty of physical scars helps them to see the value of, and bring to the surface, their emotional scars. i believe that when you bring them to the surface, they are easier to deal with–whether you “deal with” them by fixing them, understanding them better, or merely learning to accept them.
there are so many ways to heal.
hanging the show
just a couple of months after launching this website and beginning this project, a friend of ours was diagnosed with breast cancer. i told her about what we were doing and that we are here for her if she needed to talk. she responded that after reading the site, she felt so much less alone. in that moment i felt that we had achieved any goals we ever set out to accomplish. we had made at least *one* person feel less alone, and more understood.
in the short week since our opening exhibit and discussion that took place on oct. 1, we have been responding to a humbling amount of new messages, feedback, interest, and support for our project. as big as it felt to us in the moment, we know it was just the start of a long and wonderful journey.
hanging the show
we are so grateful for all those who came to the event with open hearts, compassion, honesty, and support. we have been watching as some of you have connected, and we couldn’t be happier about it. we wanted so much for the night to be not only powerful and emotional, but hopeful. not sad. honest. engaging. i feel it was all those things, and the feedback i’ve gotten since oct. 1st is that many of you feel the same. what made it so in my eyes was a convergence of intelligent and loving people who came together to create a safe space for healing to exist. people were honest with each other, open. giving. the response i’ve gotten over and over is: it was so HONEST.
i want to thank every single one of you who made it to our event, and to those who volunteered and sponsored the night – you made it what it was and we are grateful indeed.
we now have sheets and sheets of paper with new ideas for what is next, and we will keep you informed as we plan it out. for now, i just wanted to say thank you, with all my heart.
there will be so much more, and we hope you are all there with us.
Rock the Mic
Just in case you missed Elli and Kate talking about Of Scars on KFAI this afternoon, you can stream the show from here–just click on the live streaming links midway down the page. Special thanks to Ellen Stanley for having us on!