#19 - Rebecca Gillette Ward and Patricia Gillette - August 26, 2017 - Manassas, Virginia
Thursday, September 14, 2017
I met Rebecca a few years ago at a concert and documentary film screening (Rebecca is in the documentary for a few moments) and for the band N.E.D. (which is a medical term for "no evidence of disease"). I volunteered my photography services making images of the concert and of the women who shared their story about their cancer survival. Coincidentally, Rebecca and I both discovered that we had cancer at the age of 47. She had a rare form of uterine cancer and I had thyroid cancer. Rebecca's mother and grandmother also had ovarian cancer in their mid-40s.
I photographed Rebecca with her mother who was visiting from Arizona. Her mother is a long term cancer survivor. I photographed them in my backyard "studio". With my 520 Film Project, I only shoot ten frames (one roll) per subject/session. Rebecca and her mother brought their hats - but I forgot to ask them to put them on as we started off shooting the roll without hats, I mistakenly shot the whole roll - no hats! This is why it is helpful to have extra folks (stylist, assistant, art director, etc.) on a shoot - they often help remind you of things you aren't seeing/remembering.
So - I went and grabbed my digital camera and made a few frames - with hats! The hats were important because Rebecca told me she wore the one in the photo to cover her head during chemo.
I photographed Rebecca with her mother who was visiting from Arizona. Her mother is a long term cancer survivor. I photographed them in my backyard "studio". With my 520 Film Project, I only shoot ten frames (one roll) per subject/session. Rebecca and her mother brought their hats - but I forgot to ask them to put them on as we started off shooting the roll without hats, I mistakenly shot the whole roll - no hats! This is why it is helpful to have extra folks (stylist, assistant, art director, etc.) on a shoot - they often help remind you of things you aren't seeing/remembering.
So - I went and grabbed my digital camera and made a few frames - with hats! The hats were important because Rebecca told me she wore the one in the photo to cover her head during chemo.
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