Marks of Majesty

Marks of Majesty is a photographed and filmed series sharing the many varied experiences of breast cancer survivors, previvors, and patients. All talents have undergone some form of reconstruction surgery as a result of their journey with breast cancer.

Marks of Majesty was born in January of 2023 when breast cancer previvor Laura Skarzout was seeking a photographer to capture her breast scars post-op. Laura’s rep at disabilities-focused talent agency Zebedee approached me with the opportunity, which is how I learned about Laura’s story.

At the time, Laura was about to undergo her 4th breast reconstruction surgery due to complications in the healing process. A “previvor” in breast cancer lingo, Laura underwent a preventative double mastectomy to avoid an inevitable future breast cancer diagnosis. Pre-existing conditions caused her skin to simply die instead of healing back together, making her feel disfigured.

Laura’s story moved me to create a larger project around breast cancer awareness. Enlisting the help of my long-time creative partner, designer and art director Stephanie Francis, we set out to capture stills and video of 7 survivors, previvors, and patients from around America, using their surgery scars as a way “in” to share their unique journeys.

Breast cancer imagery typically conjures an image of an older, privileged, postmenopausal white woman. It is critical to dismantle this ideology as the faces of breast cancer are many and varied. Our talent includes women and non-binary individuals, who range in shape and size and come from a variety of cultural and ethnic upbringings. All of our talent were also diagnosed young, some in their twenties or thirties, at a time when most of us are simply trying to figure ourselves out, let alone face a potentially terminal illness.

To create a safe space on set, Stephanie and I carefully curated our team, consisting of mostly female and/or queer-identifying folks, several of whom have had a family member survive, or tragically pass, from breast cancer. Over multiple shoot days, our talent came to have their scars painted and photographed, and to bravely share their individual perspectives on breast cancer via filmed interviews. 

The choices in wardrobe, color, and makeup/hair are all intentional to highlight the talent as empowered. Often when sharing stories of hardship, particularly illness, we see a subject at their worst. I firmly believe we can use art and beauty as a vehicle for conversation and education about challenging topics, including breast cancer. We chose to bodypaint their scars in metallic paint to illuminate the beauty of the marks while also creating a symbolic armor or shield across their chests. 

Marks of Majesty aims to broaden the collective perspective on breast cancer awareness through art and storytelling and to spark curiosity about risk and prevention.