An award-winning Moncton, N.B., photographer is sharing his story and donating his latest works, hoping to encourage more men to get early testing for prostate cancer.
“My message to men is just get it done,” said Maurice Henri, who has spent decades travelling around the world taking photos.
Henri said his view on life was forever changed after he was diagnosed with an aggressive form of prostate cancer in January.
“It was like being hit in the forehead with a hammer,” he said.
Henri spent decades travelling the globe with his finger on the shutter. But this past spring, he said he was forced to set down his camera and undergo painful prostate cancer surgery followed by months of recovery, which he said is still ongoing.
The diagnosis, he said, came as a shock.
“It threw me, I will be honest with you, because I wasn’t really feeling sick,” said Henri.
The 64-year-old, who now fights through lingering discomfort, is focused on encouraging other men to get an early prostate exam and testing.
“This is a cancer that men don’t want to deal with, don’t want to go through; there is an embarrassment there,” he said.
But Henri hopes more men will set aside their own fears and misgivings and reflect on his journey.
Henri is also donating the proceeds from his latest abstract photography series called Watercolour in the Rain to the Friends of the Moncton Hospital Foundation as a show of gratitude to the staff he says saved his life.
“Thank you just did not seem like enough,” he said.
Friends of the Moncton Hospital Foundation president Greg King commended Henri for his selfless gesture and for raising awareness about the need for more men to get early prostate testing.
“He has experienced his own trauma and now he is finding a way to give back and I think it is inspiring,” said King.
Henri said the entire series was photographed in the rain on three continents and is valued at about $130,000.
He took the images before he was diagnosed, but says they now have an even deeper meaning for him if he can use them to support the hospital and to help prevent another man from going through what he has.
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