Photographer marks 10 years’ telling breast cancer stories

Photographer Susan Buzzi has spent a decade documenting the stories of breast cancer survivors through the lens of her camera. She recently marked the tenth anniversary with an exhibit at the gallery space where it all began.

“It started here ten years ago with a grant form Susan G. Koman,” Buzzi said at the Main Library in downtown Fort Lauderdale. In a partnership with the Broward County Library, the monies funded her first exhibition.

The project “started from scratch,” Buzzi said. She knocked on doors and found a welcome from Memorial Healthcare System Women’s Imaging Center. As word of her work spread, patients were soon seeking her out. And Buzzi sought new faces and new stories to round out the collection.

“I spend a lot of time with each patient. I call, meet with them and decide who do they want to be photographed with. It’s their choice,” she said.

The purpose is to honor them as individuals, Buzzi said. Subjects can choose the setting and the image they want to reflect. They may want to pose with pets or a family member; at home, a favorite hangout or at the beach.

Through the years, hundreds of survivors, their families and health care professionals have participated.

“I just try to bring the best out of each person I meet along the way,” she said. “[The portrait] just screams who they are.”

Buzzi’s tenth anniversary photographic essay is titled “Courage, Strength & Triumph.”

She is releasing a self-published book of the same title. It is her second. In the anthology of more than 30 pictures, she mixes color photos with black and white, which was her original medium.

In addition, Buzzi works to bring the comfort of art therapy to cancer patients. She sets up an arts bar with paper, paint, brushes, decorations and inspiring motifs to foster creativity.

“Art is a beautiful distraction,” said cancer survivor Sharon Roseman as she painted at a recent Healing Through Art workshop.

Buzzi also fills a role as a victim advocate. She delivers healing arts to jails and sex trafficking victims in South Florida. The connection between the two, she said, is 20 years ago no one talked about breast cancer. She hopes to spark that conversation

“It’s kind of like human trafficking is now,” Buzzi said. “If I could contribute to an important dialogue with my art work, I think I’m doing my job.”