The Picture Show: NPR
Editor’s note: Warning the following story contains graphic images.
Eleonora Ghioldi’s family photo sits next to a candle. Eleonora Ghioldi/Breast Cancer Project hide caption
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Eleonora Ghioldi/Breast Cancer Project
This project was created by Eleonora Ghioldi, who describes her experience during her breast cancer treatment.
“We have been sad long enough to either make this earth weep or become fruitful.”
– Audre Lorde, The Cancer Journals
Eleonora after her mastectomy. Eleonora Ghioldi/Breast Cancer Project hide caption
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Eleonora Ghioldi/Breast Cancer Project
Eleonora after her mastectomy.
Eleonora Ghioldi/Breast Cancer Project
“Breast cancer is the leading cause of death from tumors in women, causing 685,000 deaths per year in the world,” I read. “In Argentina, it is estimated that 1 in 8 women who have reached the age of 80 have developed the disease at some point in their lives.” The number is shocking, but it is still just another piece of information compared to the spread of the disease throughout the body.
All the women in Eleonora’s family who had cancer. The numbers below each correspond to the woman’s age when they were diagnosed. From left to right: María, Eleonora’s mother’s aunt, 70; Julia, Eleonora’s grandmother, 79; Griselda, Eleonora’s mother, 52; Coca, Eleonora’s mother’s cousin, 45; Mariana, Eleonora’s mother’s niece, 50; Eleonora, 44. Eleonora Ghioldi/Breast Cancer Project hide caption
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Eleonora Ghioldi/Breast Cancer Project
Notes on the treatment Eleonora collected during that time. Eleonora Ghioldi/Breast Cancer Project hide caption
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Eleonora Ghioldi/Breast Cancer Project
I had cancer, yes. It’s still hard for me to describe how it feels.
Eleonora at the beginning of her cancer treatment. Eleonora Ghioldi hide caption
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Eleonora Ghioldi
Eleonora at the beginning of her cancer treatment.
Eleonora Ghioldi
When we talk about breast cancer prevention, we’re talking about being able to touch ourselves, knowing how, breaking with that mandate imposed on us from childhood that says girls shouldn’t touch themselves, that it’s wrong, writes Eleonora. But prevention is also autonomy over one’s own body. Eleonora Ghioldi/Breast Cancer Project hide caption
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Eleonora Ghioldi/Breast Cancer Project
Suddenly the world has an expiration date. The first progress. The setbacks. The fear of not being there for my children. Look to the past, connected through time to those who once preceded us in this pain.
Eleonora throughout her treatment. Eleonora Ghioldi hide caption
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Eleonora Ghioldi
Eleonora during regular check-in dates. Eleonora Ghioldi/Breast Cancer Project hide caption
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Eleonora Ghioldi/Breast Cancer Project
There is a moment of silence, sometimes with a gesture of pity, sometimes with the taboo of cancer, writes Eleonora. The “not to be seen” pressure is placed on the bodies receiving cancer treatment, which often focuses on beauty mandates that have little to do with health. Eleonora Ghioldi/Breast Cancer Project hide caption
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Eleonora Ghioldi/Breast Cancer Project
There is a moment of silence, sometimes with a gesture of pity, sometimes with the taboo of cancer, writes Eleonora. The “not to be seen” pressure is placed on the bodies receiving cancer treatment, which often focuses on beauty mandates that have little to do with health.
Eleonora Ghioldi/Breast Cancer Project
Eleonora wore a green scarf around her wrist during her treatment. The color green has become a symbol of abortion rights around the world. Eleonora Ghioldi/Breast Cancer Project hide caption
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Eleonora Ghioldi/Breast Cancer Project
Eleonora wore a green scarf around her wrist during her treatment. The color green has become a symbol of abortion rights around the world.
Eleonora Ghioldi/Breast Cancer Project
The reasons why women get sick are many, writes Eleonora – the maintenance of an insecure life, the use of pesticides that poison our food, the difficulty of living a healthy life, and many others that we do not yet know. Eleonora Ghioldi/Breast Cancer Project hide caption
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Eleonora Ghioldi/Breast Cancer Project
The diagnosis of cancer does not always mean death, and a cancer treatment does not always have to be a place of suffering, writes Eleonora. The possibilities are many and therefore it is important to put into words what is happening around this taboo disease. Eleonora Ghioldi/Breast Cancer Project hide caption
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Eleonora Ghioldi/Breast Cancer Project
The diagnosis of cancer does not always mean death, and a cancer treatment does not always have to be a place of suffering, writes Eleonora. The possibilities are many and therefore it is important to put into words what is happening around this taboo disease.
Eleonora Ghioldi/Breast Cancer Project
Eleonora’s recovery process after her mastectomy. Eleonora Ghioldi/Breast Cancer Project hide caption
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Eleonora Ghioldi/Breast Cancer Project
Connect — (re)connect — with the body. Look in the mirror, find yourself in the scars (or not). Western medicine in general and oncology in particular, often become labyrinthine paths for most people. It directly affects decisions about our bodies and desires.
Eleonora Ghioldi after her mastectomy. Eleonora Ghioldi/Breast Cancer Project hide caption
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Eleonora Ghioldi/Breast Cancer Project
The word of the doctor (so in male) becomes unique and indecipherable. The medical corporation, complacent with the patriarchal mandates, rushes so that everything goes back to doing as before, to erase the gaps and marks, to return the body to the path of hegemonic desire. There is a blanket of silence, sometimes with a gesture of pity, other times with the taboo of cancer. The “not being seen” pressure is placed on the bodies receiving cancer treatment, which often focuses on beauty mandates that have little to do with health.
Flowers from Eleonora’s family to show support during treatment. Eleonora Ghioldi/Breast Cancer Project hide caption
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Eleonora Ghioldi/Breast Cancer Project
Flowers from Eleonora’s family to show support during treatment.
Eleonora Ghioldi/Breast Cancer Project
There is also the struggle, which always gives us meaning in the face of so much pain. When we talk about breast cancer prevention, we’re talking about touching ourselves, knowing how, breaking with that mandate imposed on us since childhood that says “Girls don’t touch their own bodies – it’s wrong .” Prevention is also autonomy over your own body.
No two paths with cancer are the same, it is different for every woman. It was mine. My ground to reality was photographing my days; every moment in the hospital was meant to be documented. Clandestines, stolen images. That they shouldn’t exist, like my cancer, but they exist, they are real.
Documenting her journey through photographs helped Eleonora cope with her cancer treatment. Eleonora Ghioldi/Breast Cancer Project hide caption
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Eleonora Ghioldi/Breast Cancer Project
Cancer changed my life, photography saved me.
The possibilities are many and therefore it is important to put into words what happens around this taboo disease, writes Eleonora. The guidance and the way each chooses to deal with the disease are the pillars of this scaffolding. Eleonora Ghioldi/Breast Cancer Project hide caption
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Eleonora Ghioldi/Breast Cancer Project
The possibilities are many and therefore it is important to put into words what happens around this taboo disease, writes Eleonora. The guidance and the way each chooses to deal with the disease are the pillars of this scaffolding.
Eleonora Ghioldi/Breast Cancer Project
For more of Eleonora’s projects, visit her social networks.
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