WINNIPEG — A group of breast cancer survivors who bravely showed their scars during a photo shoot one year ago have turned those images into a book.
“There is nothing like this out there,” Kristina Hunter said.
“We are not being shown these images and if we are we are not showing them in a light that is beautiful, even if there are imperfections.”
Hunter was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2013 and said the images she was shown by doctors of what her body might look like after surgery were “cold and clinical.”
So she joined with artist M.L Kenneth and together they found 51 women who agreed to show their bodies from the neck down. As Hunter described it “my journey written on my skin.”
With the help of a kickstarter page they raised $28,000 to put towards publishing the book.
“Many of the women said they were not shown a single image before their surgery, so the first time they saw anything is when they were unwrapping the bandages in the mirror a few days later,” Hunter said.
She hopes to eventually mail the book to every breast cancer clinic in the country.
“I think it’s a tool for women who are uncertain,” Hunter said. “They don’t know what the future will hold and hopefully this will add some clarity.”
Each page in the book shows a different woman, and on the opposite page the type of surgery done was explained, along with three words describing each woman.
“One woman was: Titanium. Sunshine. Truth. And I was like ‘wow, I’m getting goosebumps with this,” Hunter said. “I feel we are really saying a lot with these three words.”
The official launch for “Woman Redefined: Dignity, Beauty and Breast Cancer” is Wednesday night.
The book is now available at McNally Robinson.
WATCH: Breast cancer survivors empower others through images of their ‘journey written on their skin’
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