BOULDER, Colo. — A group of breast cancer survivors recently bared it all to show what different reconstruction options may look like after breast cancer.
They posed topless for a photo shoot session called the “Scars of Beauty Project” to highlight women after their mastectomies. Linnell Keeling is a local photographer and founder of the project. She’s also a survivor and said the photo shoot is all about making breast cancer survivors feel gorgeous.
“A lot of breast cancer patients, when they’re diagnosed, they lose a lot of that, our breasts is how we identify people as women,” Keeling said. “I want women to feel beautiful, to feel empowered like they are absolute goddesses and I also want to bring awareness to the different kinds of reconstruction.”
According to the National Breast Cancer Foundation, 1 in 8 women will have breast cancer in her lifetime. In 2023, an estimated 297,790 women and 2,800 men will be diagnosed with invasive breast cancer.
Advances in early detection and treatment methods have significantly increased breast cancer survival rates in recent years, and there are currently over 3.8 million breast cancer survivors in the United States. More than 100,000 U.S. women undergo some form of mastectomy each year to save their lives.
The scars of breast cancer survivors
“This project is about awareness for all the different kinds of options you have as a breast cancer patient when you’re told you need to have a mastectomy,” Keeling said. “I wanted to do something where I would be comfortable with the decision and not have to worry about having future surgeries.”
Andra Bottocchio traveled from Arizona to take part in the shoot. She was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2015 and decided to have a double mastectomy. She’s active in outdoor sports and loves being outside. She said the photo shoot felt natural.
“Being able to do this type of shoot outside just kind of embodies so much of what I’m about,” Bottocchio said. “The body that I have now post-breast cancer and post-mastectomy and staying flat really feels like sort of the body that I was meant to have, and it feels the most natural and comfortable to me.”
Lissa Sears came to Colorado from Indiana and was diagnosed about 10 years ago. She calls herself a ‘flatty’ and hopes the photos will bring awareness to others.
“We have to be seen because there are people out there who don’t know it’s an option,” Sears said. “It’s sad because there are people out there living flat that have never realized there are other people living flat.”
The women say the project is helping them reconnect with their bodies. Martha Kyler was diagnosed in January of 2021 and comes from a pageantry background. She said even though she didn’t choose to go ‘flat,' she sees the photo shoot as a way to feel empowered.
“I did not have flat closure. I had reconstruction with implants and so it’s basically my skin and muscle over implants,” Kyler said. “Taking the initiative to do projects like this to reconnect me with this new body and embrace it, kind of remind myself that it is so beautiful, and its resilience is something I’ll always be thankful for.”
Keeling said she’ll be scheduling photo shoot sessions every couple of months and encourages other breast cancer survivors to sign up on social media to help get the word out.
“I hope they see how strong a capable these women are… that they are warriors,” Keeling said. “I hope that they see the stories behind the women, behind the scars, and know that if they have somebody in their life that’s diagnosed, that they can say, ‘Hey, this is an option.'”
For more information about the Scars of Beauty Project, click here.
SUGGESTED VIDEOS: Latest from 9NEWS