Stunning Book Of Portraits Shows 'Beauty After Breast Cancer'

When facing a preventative double mastectomy, Katelyn Carey had no idea what to expect. Now that she is past her procedure, she wants to tell other women in her position: You’re not alone.

Carey, a nurse and mother of two, has a family history of breast cancer and underwent a preventative mastectomy at the age of 29. Inspired by her experience, she is creating Beauty After Breast Cancer, a book of portraits and narratives that explains what breast cancer survivors went through, and shows what their bodies look like now.

(Some images below may be considered NSFW.)

Carey hopes to publish the book in the autumn of 2015. Her goal is for cancer centers and breast centers around the world to use the book as a tool to hearten women facing treatment and surgery by providing information about various surgeries, and personal stories from women who have had them.

“The one crucial difference between us and the other resources out there is that Beauty After Breast Cancer is the coordinated efforts of medical staff with breast cancer patients in order to create the book that we as patients wish we’d had at the time of our diagnosis,” Carey told The Huffington Post. “I believe that modern medicine can be compassionate. I believe that we can use our hardships to help others who must walk similar paths to the ones we have stumbled on.”

Carey and photographer Joseph Linaschke have worked with 33 breast cancer survivors ranging in age from 29 to 82. These women have undergone lumpectomies and single and bilateral mastectomies. Some have chosen to have full or partial breast reconstructions; others have decided against reconstruction or even “deconstructed” their implants at a later date.

“We don’t hold back, and the photos show both ‘ideal’ outcomes as well as surgeries that had complications.” Carey said. “Yet we are still managing to be uplifting and unintimidating with the portraits and stories we are sharing. A woman who has just heard the words, ‘you have breast cancer’ does not need to be scared further. I feel the faceless portraits of scars remain too harsh for someone who has no experience with breast cancer.”

Carey launched a Kickstarter fundraiser in October 2014 that fell short of its funding goal, but remains determined to see the book published.

“More and more I wish I had this book when I was going through my surgery,” Carey wrote. “And I guess that’s the point of all this.”

See more stunning images and narratives from Beauty After Breast Cancer below, and learn more about the project here.

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Source: Huffington Post Women