While breast cancer in women has been at the very forefront of the awareness movement, the very same disease in men remains under-recognized. One consequence is that men still discover the disease later than they could, and so need more extensive treatment and have poorer outcomes. And since breast cancer in men is so rare, a screening program such as annual mammograms, makes no sense either. The only weapon we have in this fight is awareness.
So I am incredibly excited to be part of a new awareness project aimed directly at male breast cancer, which we are launching today: an unflinching look at the face of the disease in a series of large-scale portraits shot by fashion photographer David Jay.
David is well known for his professional fashion work (http://www.davidjayphotography.com) and also for his use of powerful imagery to examine important social issues and raise awareness about them. This latter part of his work is entirely non-commercial, and David gives generously of his time and creativity to causes he believes are important. I am thrilled that he has agreed to turn his lens on male breast cancer.
So now we need men who are willing to be photographed for this project. In particular we are seeking men who will highlight that breast cancer afflicts young and middle-aged people, the key demographic for raising awareness as people in these life stages rarely think about cancer. If you are a male breast cancer survivor, have had a mastectomy and are under 60 please consider participating in our project. Please get in touch.
Our first step is to organize a photo shoot in Houston, where I am based, so initially we looking for participants willing to travel here. David is based in New York, so another possibility is to visit him in his studio there. If you are elsewhere, please get in touch anyway, as are willing to consider also coming to other cities or finding ways to get you to New York.
If you are interested, please get in touch. You can email me (oliverbogler at gmail dot com), or connect via direct message on Twitter @obogler, or via my FaceBook page www.facebook.com/EnteringAWorldOfPink. If you have questions, please post them or we once connect and we can talk on the phone. I will also be updating this blog (tag “awareness project”) and the FB Entering A World of Pink page as we make progress.
Together we can make a difference – we can raise awareness. Please join us in this fight!
Entering a World of Pink 