Today is #NationalCancerSurvivorsDay.
Back in 2014, in my New Jersey photography studio, Girl Plus Camera, I began an annual tradition that I continue to this day: every October, I hold a contest to nominate a breast cancer survivor for a free makeover and boudoir photography session.
Cancer takes a lot from those who have it; those who survive are often left tired and emaciated from their battle. Many lose their hair, their eyebrows, even their eyelashes. For some women with breast cancer or the BRCA1 gene, it means the loss of one or both breasts.
However, I am a firm believer that every body, regardless of shape, is beautiful, and I wanted to use my work to show women that they are beautiful, no matter what they look like. Cancer can take many things from a survivor, but it cannot take their fierce femininity away. So, I launched the #fiercelyfeminine #everybodyisbeautiful campaign--a contest for friends and family to nominate cancer survivors who they believe embody what it means to be #fierce in their daily lives. Winners receive a full makeover and wardrobe styled photo shoot and print credit to capture them as they are, to have an image to look at every day so they can see themselves the way their loved ones see them--as fiercely feminine.
Cancer can take many things from survivors, but one thing it cannot take away is their beauty--every October, I dedicate my business to survivors to help them see #everybodyisbeautiful