Back in June 2017 I had the great honour of photographing Lucy McCance. Lucy was undergoing treatment for breast cancer and was in the middle of her chemotherapy treatment. She approached me as she wanted to diarise this period of time and celebrate her body, her scar and her beautiful bald head as the true work of arts that they were.
I leapt at the chance.
There followed a photoshoot unlike any other.
I’ll let the photos speak for themselves, but for me you can see the beauty of Lucy’s courage and wisdom shining forth. She stands with grace and pride, encapsulating the true and eternal feminine beauty that so gloriously challenges our culture’s patriarchal ‘glamour’. This woman displays her scar with dignity and strength for it signifies life to her. Her bald, beautifully tattooed head is held with majesty for it signifies courage to her.
This is a complete and whole woman, a woman with the beauty of pure life-force shining from her soul through her eyes, unencumbered by the shade of eyelashes or eyebrows.
For anyone who is undergoing treatment for cancer, who is drowning in the darkness of despair or just feeling lost in the harsh illusion of life, may I encourage you to listen to her presentation below.
It will shine a light into your heart.
The videos were recorded when Lucy kindly came to London to speak at my Battersea exhibition, Together We Will Rise. My intent for the exhibition was to showcase the true beauty of the Divine Feminine and I can think of no better woman than Lucy to do this.
During her presentation Lucy talks about her diagnosis, the brutality of the breast cancer treatments and the effects that the experience have had on her, her husband and their daughters. Lucy will speak to your soul – humour, truth, honesty and wisdom are all encapsulated in this twenty minute talk. Please listen to it and share the wisdom to those who may be in need of hearing it.
One message comes shining out brighter than most as Lucy urges us to feel and live in each moment. It is a lesson that cancer has bestowed on her. She says she will always be eternally grateful to cancer for this powerful gift … just as long as it never kills her.
Since the exhibition Lucy has gone on to write articles about her experience including a feature in Devon Life magazine which included many of the photos we took from that inspirational day, a day which will always live in my memory.
Thank you Lucy, thank you for your courage and your wisdom, it has shone a light in the depths of many people’s darkness – including mine.
I am eternally grateful.