The Courier & Advertiser (Angus and Dundee)
Cancer patients show scars in new photo shoot
The scars of cancer patients will be put on display as part of a new project showing the “gritty and raw reality” of the disease.
Sixteen men and women who have been diagnosed with cancer have taken part in the “Defiance” photoshoot to show strength and solidarity against the disease, despite the changes to their bodies.
The “Defiance” project photos have been released as part of Stand Up To Cancer, a joint fundraising campaign from Cancer Research UK and Channel 4, which aims to look at the disease in an honest and unfiltered way.
Photographer Ami Barwell, who shot the images, said that the project was an “act of rebellion”.
She said: “Cancer isn’t pretty, it can be dark, painful and destructive. But we aren’t playing to cancer’s rules. These people are strong, beautiful and, most of all, defiant.”
“Defiance” follows on from Barwell’s 2017 “Mastectomy” series, for which she received an overwhelming positive response.
She said: “My previous Mastectomy series was inspired by my mum, who has had breast cancer twice, and a mastectomy, so this was a subject very close to my heart.
“I wanted to raise as much awareness for breast cancer as possible, showing women baring their scars in a series of gritty and honest portraits. I received emails from women worldwide explaining how my photographs had inspired them and given them strength.
“For many, these were the first photographs they’d seen showing women post-mastectomy as beautiful, sexy, strong and amazing. I knew I had to carry on raising awareness with Stand Up To Cancer and empowering people through my photographs.”
Barwell decided to shoot a broader series to reflect a more diverse range of experiences with cancer.
Among those featured in “Defiance” is Tasha Jilka, 27, from Leicester, who was diagnosed with neuroblastoma just before her 18th birthday in 2010 and says it “massively impacted” her confidence.
Mark Douglas, 39, from London, is living with thyroid cancer and displays the scar on his neck that he received through surgery in the series.
Stand Up To Cancer to date has raised more than £62 million to support 52 clinical trials and projects.