Artist Statement
Reconstructed: A Breast Cancer Selfie and Documentation Project
I have been a life long photography fan and documenter. I ‘ve enjoyed photography classes over the years, spent hours in darkrooms and worked in photo labs. I am a visual person foremost; I never tire of looking at photographic images. When I was diagnosed with breast cancer, I had lost my desire to take pictures, especially with my “real camera”. However, I always had my iPhone or iPad around me. I found myself taking quick pictures of my face or body, and my surroundings, as I trapezed through Cancer Land. I often took these little iPhone pictures in astonishment, what did I really look like? Am I really sitting in a medical facility for the fourth time in one week? Another surgery? Another needle poke… After all, a picture is worth a thousand words, so the saying goes… I could better summarize what was happening with a selfie than I could articulate with words during this time. Mostly, I felt sad and a constant desire to disconnect from feeling broken apart piece by piece mentally and physically by my cancer experience. Additionally, my decades long relationship with my husband ended during cancer. I just wanted to hurry up and live some other life. These photos are that, a small diary of my life as it unraveled down to these different moments that I often wanted to isolate and destroy the memory in my head. I wanted to heal and put together a new life for my son and me. I also knew, with my marriage over, I would need to return to the workforce. I wanted to stay tied to the cancer community in some capacity. So, I began to learn to make realistic areola tattoos while finishing treatment. I love it. I feel like I can understand what my fellow survivors have experienced with chemo, radiation or breast reconstruction. The incredible survivors I have met always inspire me to be a better person, each in their own way.
Artist Bio
Monica Taylor Haro a is a life long resident of the Bay Area, where she is currently raising her young son, Christian. Monica worked in the corporate world for 17 years, then was a stay at home mom during which time she was diagnosed with breast cancer at age 42 in the fall of 2014. While undergoing cancer treatment, Monica became interested in learning how to make realistic areola tattoos. She was fortunate enough to apprentice under Tee Jay Hernandez while finishing chemo and radiation. Doing this has helped her start a healing process for herself and focus on a new post cancer life trying to help other survivors close their cancer chapter.
Reconstructed: A Breast Cancer Selfie and Documentation Project
I have been a life long photography fan and documenter. I ‘ve enjoyed photography classes over the years, spent hours in darkrooms and worked in photo labs. I am a visual person foremost; I never tire of looking at photographic images. When I was diagnosed with breast cancer, I had lost my desire to take pictures, especially with my “real camera”. However, I always had my iPhone or iPad around me. I found myself taking quick pictures of my face or body, and my surroundings, as I trapezed through Cancer Land. I often took these little iPhone pictures in astonishment, what did I really look like? Am I really sitting in a medical facility for the fourth time in one week? Another surgery? Another needle poke… After all, a picture is worth a thousand words, so the saying goes… I could better summarize what was happening with a selfie than I could articulate with words during this time. Mostly, I felt sad and a constant desire to disconnect from feeling broken apart piece by piece mentally and physically by my cancer experience. Additionally, my decades long relationship with my husband ended during cancer. I just wanted to hurry up and live some other life. These photos are that, a small diary of my life as it unraveled down to these different moments that I often wanted to isolate and destroy the memory in my head. I wanted to heal and put together a new life for my son and me. I also knew, with my marriage over, I would need to return to the workforce. I wanted to stay tied to the cancer community in some capacity. So, I began to learn to make realistic areola tattoos while finishing treatment. I love it. I feel like I can understand what my fellow survivors have experienced with chemo, radiation or breast reconstruction. The incredible survivors I have met always inspire me to be a better person, each in their own way.
Artist Bio
Monica Taylor Haro a is a life long resident of the Bay Area, where she is currently raising her young son, Christian. Monica worked in the corporate world for 17 years, then was a stay at home mom during which time she was diagnosed with breast cancer at age 42 in the fall of 2014. While undergoing cancer treatment, Monica became interested in learning how to make realistic areola tattoos. She was fortunate enough to apprentice under Tee Jay Hernandez while finishing chemo and radiation. Doing this has helped her start a healing process for herself and focus on a new post cancer life trying to help other survivors close their cancer chapter.
