A picture is worth a thousand boobs
If I asked you all to name one person in your life who loves to sit and pose for a camera, front and center, clothes off, boobs out, how many of you would have Kris at the top of your list (or on your list at all)? My guess is no one. So how did I spend my Friday morning last week, you ask? Photographing Kris, front and center, clothes off (except for underoos and a silk, of course), boobs out.
When talkings of a possible double mastectomy began, Kris approached me with the idea of capturing her soon to be new chest in photo form, with the idea that it could one day expand to others who have undergone body transformations whether voluntary or otherwise. I was immediately inspired by the idea of creating something raw, intimate and beautiful. At the very least, it might create art out of a time in Kris' life that has likely felt like the opposite of art, and maybe even help to commemorate this new body in fine art photo form. Truly, it was just an honor to even be asked as I've known since the beginning of knowing Kris that modeling for a camera sits somewhere between being eating peaches and troubleshooting company website glitches.
Flash forward a few weeks, and a brand new cancer finding in Parus minor (shoutout to Blob Loblobular), and the double mastectomy without recon is confirmed. The topic of the photo project comes up again, this time with the question: is it necessary to take pictures of the "Before" ? My initial thoughts were that the point was to capture the new form, sans tatas, not necessarily to dwell on the things that will no longer be. The story was in the "After," right? Then I took a moment (like 3 minutes) to think a bit deeper about it and realized that, if Kris was down, the Before was actually just as important to the visual story. We have a situation in which a woman who would not have undergone this type of surgery given the choice is now being thrust into it. She will be saying goodbye to a part of her body that has always been attached to this idea of beauty and femininity, only to come out the other side just as beautiful as ever. AKA the boobies need to be immortalized, dammit!
So that brought us to Friday morning, a day just like any other where Kris and I laughed about fart stories and reminisced over our pasts, only this time with boobs out (Kris', not mine, for once). We draped her in silks and took the most gobsmackingly gorgeous images I could ever have hoped for in the milkiest light known to mankind. I mean they are freaking GORGEOUS if I do say so myself. You all may never see them, because it's almost impossible to show a pair of breasts without them being sexualized, but that will be up to Kris ultimately and what she is comfortable with. The point is that this photographic journey has begun. Our next session will be post-mastectomy, likely in the fall when I return from my summer away and after Kris has had some time to recover. For as unbelievably bonkers gorgeous the Before images are, the Afters are going to be ten times more so.
The most important thing is that both will capture someone who is an amazing human, a talented aerialist, an intelligent AF biologist, an expert synth crafter, a hilarious purveyor of fart humor (almost as good as me), an incredible cook, an AWESOME friend who has touched the heart of everyone reading this, a freaking phenomenal wife (I'm just assuming here but, c'mon, duh), and I'm sorry, boobs, but we don't need you here for all of the above to be true. You might look good in a photo, but the photos are ultimately of the woman you are attached to, she is the most important part of her body, and she is what makes Kris beautiful. This is probably all too cheesy for Kris, and she is probably going to delete this upon reading it for approval, but whatever I SAID WHAT I SAID AND I MEAN IT.
Keep an eye out for more on our photo project as it progresses!