A visitor’s book had a small group of votive candles burning nearby on a winter’s day at a gallery in New York’s SoHo.
Filled with moving, emotional, and raw heartfelt messages, the book’s pages turned as the candles cast their soft light over them, leaving the powerful words unaltered.
Along the white walls nearby were larger-than-life photographs, some in black-and-white and others in color, magnified to sizes that captured attention.
Their subjects, victims of breast cancer, confronted the lens with the stark reality of their struggles. Their faces, marked by unwavering honesty and the courage to reveal the true nature of breast cancer, are now featured on The SCAR Project’s site, which invites women to engage in the artistic expression of this relentless illness.
Five years ago, it was a personal encounter with the disease that led David Jay to shift his focus from the fashion models he typically photographed to his friend Paulina, a 29-year-old woman who underwent a mastectomy just two weeks after her cancer diagnosis.
‘I never set out to create The SCAR Project,’ Mr. Jay explains. ‘Paulina is a beautiful, strong young woman; I’ve taken her picture countless times since she was 17. When I saw her soon after her surgery, I felt compelled to photograph her again. For me as a photographer, capturing images is a means of confronting, comprehending, and accepting the experiences I witness.’
He describes that initial photo as a ‘beautifully disturbing portrait’, which ultimately led to the expansion of the project—finding young women with breast cancer aged between 18 and 35 was unfortunately not a challenge.
Initially intended as an ‘awareness-raising campaign’, the project quickly transformed into something much deeper, he shares on his website. Mr. Jay emphasizes that the project aims to present a ‘raw, unflinching face of early onset breast cancer while honoring the bravery and spirit of countless young women.’
The power of the photographs, he asserts, lies in their authenticity: ‘I refuse to present only part of the narrative—portraying a false sense of everything being okay while these girls endure breast cancer and just continue with their lives—because that isn’t the reality.’
‘As much as I wish it were true, the fact is that some of these women are losing their battles, and it’s crucial to share their stories, as that represents the true nature of the disease.’
Consequently, the images are not merely tributes to overcoming the illness—numerous brave women featured have sadly passed away, and one individual designated for a photo shoot died mere days before her session. An empty black frame now occupies the space where her portrait would have been.
Another woman’s face is marred, a scar extending from her chest to her lower lip, as she sits with a dog. Tragically, she passed away at age 25 just before the exhibition opened, leaving a vase of flowers at the foot of her portrait to alert visitors to her poignant story.
This ever-expanding body of work, encompassing nearly 100 women to date, honors the 10,000 women under 40 who will be diagnosed with the disease this year alone, according to the project’s website.
Women from both America and across the globe have traveled to New York for Mr. Jay to photograph them, and he believes that the images provide each cancer victim with a significant personal triumph.
‘ItThey find a way to reclaim their femininity, sexuality, identity, and power after having lost such a vital part of themselves.
‘For these young women, being photographed signifies a personal triumph over this intimidating illness,’ he mentions on SCAR’s website. ‘These images assist them in reclaiming their femininity, sexuality, identity, and power after having had such an essential aspect taken from them. With these straightforward photographs, they appear to accept what has occurred and gain the strength to confidently move forward.’
The images have been compiled into a book—featuring a deep incision across the black hard-cover, starkly symbolizing its content—and a documentary DVD. The aim of this initiative is to generate funding for research into this early-onset disease.
Detailed descriptions accompanying each photograph include remarks from the subjects. Some of these reflections are courageous, while others are contemplative.
One individual expressed: ‘I gaze into the eyes of my corpse. Yet, I still feel, which reassures me that I am still alive. And for life, for my life, I will keep fighting.’
Another subject noted she ‘view[s] it as something for my family to remember after I’m gone. A reminder of the battle I waged for my life.’
Another participant resonates with the feelings shared by several women: ‘In the SCAR Project, I can “just be me.” No more concealing or disguising the reality. No more acting as if everything is alright. This is who I am. This is my present. This is my life.’
The gallery exhibition is set to be showcased in Washington DC this October, with plans for an opening in Los Angeles.
As one of the subjects articulated, the photographs might assist others in recognizing the disease: ‘I am grateful I didn’t heed the advice of those who thought I was too young to develop breast cancer. Instead, I decided to listen to my body.’
by Mike Hansom
