The Tribune

By JEFFARAH GIBSON

Tribune Features Writer

jgibson@tribunemedia.net

Each day this month, one unique woman will be celebrated for her strength and her courage in the face of breast cancer. This celebration takes on the form of a photo campaign by local photographer Daythan Newton called "Turn Up the Pink".

The 31 women participating in the initiative decided to submit their stories as breast cancer survivors for the chance to engage in a fun and highly personalised photo shoot. The youngest member of this group is a 25-year-old Bahamian woman who was diagnosed at the age 23.

Her journey with cancer began after being denied a mammogram by a doctor who believed she was too young for the examination. (It is recommended by the American Cancer Society that women begin having mammograms between the ages of 40-45. Currently, there are no strict guidelines for the Bahamas.)

However, the 25-year-old's situation was unique. She had a family history of breast cancer, with her mother and aunt also being survivors. And to personalise her photo shoot with Daythan and his team, she brought them along, taking photos by their side.

Since her fight against breast cancer started, the young woman has been a staunch advocate of women having mammograms as early as possible, especially if there is a history of breast cancer in the family.

The 25-year-old's story is just one of many inspirational encounters Daythan experienced while embarking on his ambitious "Turn Up the Pink" campaign.

Daythan is one half DNewton Photography (the other is Deuel Newton). He joined forces with Kristoff Rolle of Churchboy Photography and bone cancer survivor Erin Brown to tell the compelling stories of women here at home who are surviving and living their lives to the fullest after a breast cancer diagnosis.

Daythan admitted that he not realise when starting out just how moved he would be by each of the 31 participants who have all fought the battle against breast cancer but have completely different journeys.

"These shoots are not standard. When we launched and selected the 31 participants who we will highlight every day all October long, we told them this is not going to be the kind of shoot where you only stand in the front of the camera and take a portrait," the photographer told Tribune Health.

"We wanted this shoot to be highly customised and personalised. We want to bring to the forefront exactly who these women are and what they love through the shoot. So we told them, anything that you love, bring it to the shoot," he said.

One of the women is a baker, so she brought a mixer to the shoot.

"We had members of our team throwing flour around the place. Then we had someone who liked to read, so we set up a book shelf. For the kindergarten teacher we set up some placemats on the floor, along with several crayons. There was a woman who was police and a firefighter, another who loved to box, so she brought her boxing gloves," he said.

The intent was to make the shoot as fun, inspirational and personalised as could possible for the participants. It was designed to be a celebration of the women and their fight.

"There was another survivor who had a double mastectomy and when she came on set she took off her shirt. She said, 'You don't know how long I have wanted to do this'," said Daythan.

The survivor was referring to the opportunity to finally take photos of her scars. For her, it was a liberating and therapeutic experience.

"She was very adamant about showing her scars. So we threw around confetti because it was a celebration for her," he said.

It was these encounters Daythan and his team want the public to seen and hear. It was the driving force behind him launching the initiative that kicked off on social media in mid-September.

The team launched a promotional campaign asking both women and men to share their experiences with breast cancer. They received more feedback than they had anticipated and had met their quota of 31 participants in two days.

"We launched the campaign and made sure not to make it gender specific, because there are men who also suffer with breast cancer. But it just happened that we got all ladies," said Daythan.

"People in general saw it as an awesome opportunity. We had a lot of people tagging others in the posts. It was received by many people. Those survivors were more than ecstatic to tell their stories and they feel this whole opportunity gives them a voice, and to hear that kind of feedback was reassuring."

Shooting started almost immediately at the Our Carmichael Community and Business Centre, which happily donated their space for the past few weeks.

"We have been shooting every day since September 19. We would usually shoot during the afternoon because the participants are working women, so we wanted to be extremely accommodating to them. We also provided hair and make-up for the ladies, so they only thing they had to do was show up," he said.

On some afternoons the team shot several women, with each shoot lasting about an hour.

"This was very good because they got to meet each other and share their stories. Although they all may have suffered breast cancer, they way they had to deal with it was different, so they got to be learn and be inspired by one another," he said.

"While at the shoot, Erin (Brown) also interviewed the women and asked them a few more questions about their survivor story, as it will also be shared with their photos on our social media page."

There will be number of activities held as part of the "Turn Up the Pink" initiative that Daythan said will further celebrate the 31 women.

"Many persons who are still suffering breast cancer are highlighted, but it's not often you hear the stories told about the survivors. This was the reason we launched the initiative, because we want to highlight some of the positives stories. By doing this, it can offer encouragement and support to those who are suffering. It will give them hope to see there are other people out there who beat breast cancer," he said.