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W HEN someone we know has a disease, there’s an instinct to avoid talking about, or to talk about it in as quick and positive a way as possible.
The stories and emotions behind the disease don’t get told often, but they are stories that are powerful in their telling, and sometimes therapeutic for those telling them. It’s those kind of stories that are hanging on the walls of Gallery 14 in Hopewell in the Princeton Photography Club’s exhibit, We Are More Than Our Diseases.
The exhibit features photographs by club members who have a disease, or who have dealt with a loved one dealing with disease. The idea began with a photo by Wayne Klaw, titled “Chemo Port.” It’s a striking, black-and-white image, depicting a woman who has pulled down her shirt enough to expose a mark, where the port was placed. Curator Sheila Geisler soon found that other members of the club had photos about their own experiences with diseases.
“The way people coped with what they were handing was very interesting,” Ms. Geisler says. “And I found that they were creating images about it in order to express their emotions; they’re photographers, that’s what they do. I thought about this type of exhibit for a long time, it’s a difficult topic.”
Knowing how it difficult it is, Ms. Geisler says asking the club’s members to consider sharing these images in a show wasn’t easy. Taking the pictures is one thing, showing them to the world was another.
“But when I reached out to the members, the feedback I got was, that when you have a problem, whether it’s depression or knee surgery or breast cancer, people say, ‘Oh it’ll be OK,’” Ms. Geisler says. “They don’t want to deal with the other side of the emotions, which may be fear or anger. And I found in the photographers that people were expressing both sides of the emotions, and I think it made for a very strong exhibit that many people can identify with.”
She also learned that for many members, being part of the photography club was a form of support by offering a way to be productive and creative, and a form of sociability.
Putting the exhibit together had its challenges. Just as it’s difficult to ask questions of someone dealing with a disease such as cancer, Ms. Geisler says pushing photographers for the right kind of photos was hard.
“The easier part is to put over the positive, ‘everything will be OK,’ and I had to say, ‘But that’s not all we want. We want the other side. You’re not there yet,’ and I had to send it back and say, ‘dig deeper,’” she says.
Key to the exhibit are 16 images by Barbara Warren, a club member and breast cancer survivor who says her photos share her story, along with the story of Ann Mark, a member of the club who died of ovarian cancer.
“I was treated for early stage breast cancer 12 years ago,” Ms. Warren writes in her artist’s statement. “I chose a double mastectomy, and am essentially cancer free now. Ann was diagnosed with ovarian cancer in 2001. She battled cancer for a long time — many rounds of chemo, many rounds of surgery. She lived 12 long and mostly wonderful years before passing away on her 67th birthday in December, 2013.
“We became friends in 2007. We shared a love of photography, and a philosophical bent. Many times, we shared wine, our stories of life, and our stories of cancer, but mostly our stories of life. I was diagnosed early stage. I wanted aggressive treatment. At heart, I am a fighter, and am often my best when things are tough. For six long months, cancer was my job. Many nights I tossed and turned, wondering if cancer would consume my life and cause my death. I am very fortunate — early diagnosis and aggressive treatment gave me back a normal life. In some ways, I was permanently changed, in other ways, not.
“Ann was diagnosed in 2001, shortly after 9/11, a very private bombing that coincided with a very public bombing. In 2004, she was diagnosed with Stage 4 ovarian cancer. In many ways, she was permanently changed, in other ways, not.”
The exhibit also shares stories of knee replacement surgery, appendicitis, broken bones, and depression. The idea is that everyone has been affected by illness and disease. Ms. Geisler says the idea is connect the emotions with people, and to share a message of hope.
Ms. Geisler says the exhibit also will be shown at the D&R Greenway’s Johnson Education Center in October, and that she expects it to change, grow and continue to be exhibited.
“I think this will be a living exhibit which will continue because of how many people really wanted to express the emotion of something they’ve dealt with in images,” she says.
Other photographers whose works are in the exhibit are Joel Blum, Ilya Genin, Scott Gordon, Janet Hautau, Wayne Klaw, Fay Kobland, Randy Koslo, Christine Stadelmeier, Vivien Van Natta, and Jon Walker..” Î
We Are More than Our Diseases is on view at Gallery 14, 14 Mercer St., Hopewell, through Sept. 6. Hours: Sat.-Sun. noon to 5 p.m. For more information, visit princetonphotoclub.org.
