Randy was approached by Cox Health's Hulston Cancer Center in Springfield, Missouri with an intriguing project. The center wanted a series of cancer survivor portraits and felt Randy's style of portrait art was exactly what they wanted to achieve. In Randy's hands, they envisioned portraits that would tell inspiring stories of strength and positive spirit that would be a source of hope for people going through cancer.
Randy was immediately enthralled with the project. "As a portrait artist, there is no bigger joy than those moments when I feel like I have captured an instant-in-time that speaks about the soul of a person... this is my artistic mission. To mesh this mission with individuals who are going through cancer, this is a true blessing for me," says Randy.
Randy's wife, Shannon adds, "We wanted to manifest the positive power of the human spirit and the wonderful, miraculous things the soul can learn from cancer, and not simply show the pain and scars of the disease."
The shooting began in earnest with nine cancer survivors of all genders, ages and types of cancer. After this original group was photographed, several more survivors were added to the exhibit and Randy has continued to accept new portrait subjects ever since. The exhibit has grown to include over 80 subjects, yielding hundreds of images. "This is not a stagnant project. God willing, I want to keep growing the volume of portraits and stories so we can help give people hope...all over the world," says Randy.
The future of the Sweet Life Project is poised and ready to travel to various locations across the nation. "My desire is to share the portraits with as many people possible so that each may truly experience the power through the eyes, hands, bodies and souls of these surviviors...I want to help people see that this really is a sweet life that we're living."
by shannon bacon