As October draws to a close, the month of pink ribbons everywhere will be subsiding.The Pink Ribbon campaign was a brilliant and very successful campaign to raise awareness of breast cancer in an effort to have more women screened and help minimize the astronomical numbers that succumb to this disease. However, as with many things, the pink ribbon is so passe. There are so many items that turn pink during October, rendering the ribbon so much a part of our lives especially during this month, that it is far too easy to forget that it is more than an advertising campaign, it is a life and death struggle for too many people. This speaks to me in light of breast cancer hitting closer to home, with a neighbor who was recently diagnosed and my own personal scare after a questionable mammogram.
The SCAR project by photographer David Jay, in its own words attempts to show that breast cancer is not a pink ribbon. For many, many women and those that love them, it is a reality that we can often forget when we, those who are healthy, are buried in a sea of pink ribbons. Breast cancer, like all other cancers, is a terminal, scary, disfiguring disease that changes a person's life and the lives of those around her forever.
According to an interview by The Daily Muse with photographer David Jays he began the project when a good friend of his, in her 20s developed breast cancer. It was his attempt to show the honest effect of breast cancer on young women and help to empower them in the fight of their lives. His photographs are powerful and show courageous women who are living with the reality behind the ribbon. His photographs will be on display in New York City through the beginning of November. You can also read more about this project on his website.
