Kerry Mansfield

Coup de cœur ...
"Aftermath"  2013
"When I was diagnosed with breast cancer, I was 31 years old. This was 7 years ago.
Although it feels like a lifetime has passed since I received treatment, I continue to be haunted by the aftermath of the surgeries, countless combinations of drugs and radical emotional upheavals. The cancer may have left my body, however, its echo never has.
At the time, I struggled as a patient with finding any cancer-ridden peer support. As a photographer, I also realized there were no photographic projects that revealed the real side of cancer, including the treatment and how it breaks a person’s body and spirit. And I needed these images. I wanted evidence of the path that I was about to face, so that I could try to prepare myself. I needed these images, in addition to the available books. Yet, there were none.
The visual void of imagery depicting the violently painful physical and emotional transformation caused by breast cancer ‘treatment’ left me feeling alone in my sadness and sickness.
Although I doubted that my photos would ever see the light of day, I felt compelled to create an archive based on my own experience to fill the distinctive missing piece in a very complicated puzzle.
So, this is how this series began. For the next 2 years, I photographed myself throughout my transformation. … If I could face its ugliness head-on, I truly believed that I might win the war against this disease. Yes, I was at war.
As we tried to excise and then kill the cancer, while cells were multiplying rapidly in my chest, I faced so many battles that challenged my daily existence with physical marathons through hell in order to become healthy again.
Most days, I did not feel like I was winning, but facing the camera took me to another place. There were no oncologists, surgeons, toxic drugs or well-meaning loved ones. It was me and only me holding court in whatever phase my body had caved into at that moment. Some photographs were taken while sobbing and others with a defiant screw-you-cancer stance. I was not brave nor was I a victim, I was stubborn. I was holding my ground by simply pushing back as hard as possible in the hope that I would be the victor.
…
For all, I was a survivor. I still am.”
Je vous ai mis son site