Shot over the course of three years, The SCAR Project is a series of portraits of 17- to 35-year-old women at various stages of breast cancer treatment. The portraits are shot both in the studio and on location. And in contrast to David Jay’s fashion work, use a lighting style that is intended to reveal the depths rather than enhance the surface or conceal imperfections.
In his words, “The series chronicles the raw physical and emotional artifacts of this devastating disease and provides the viewer an honest, intimate portal into lives far removed from simple pink ribbons.”
I know firsthand the devastating effects of a breast cancer diagnosis, especially when one is young—the nearly unfathomable physical losses coupled with social, personal and financial challenges. And how dissociating it feels that this side of it is rarely discussed in the media.
Yet I have seen, in myself and others, great resilience and courage despite the suffering, along with a dignity rooted in recognizing who one is unrelated to the outer values of our culture. A new determination takes hold, to live life from this place rather than from a place of defeat; and the acknowledgment that life has changed forever, and the feelings that go with this, are included because they are the basis for this transformation. Art can be a gentle or not so gentle reminder that there is more to life than it appears. Some art summons us to a new vantage point with beauty, some with our common humanity. With The SCAR Project David Jay has done both.