Beauty Through Adversity: How Photography Captures the Courage of Breast Cancer Fighters

‘Beauty in adversity’ is the title of this photographic project that was born during the spring of 2021 with the aim of documenting the experience of Vaquero’s mother, after being diagnosed with breast cancer.

“It is a very personal and very intimate exhibition”, the author acknowledged, since it “reflects the experience of an oncological pathology”, that is, “a very important moment in the life of a person and their family”.

As he explained, the visual narrative collects “from clinical suspicion” from the lump that is discovered, until “the end of the surgery”, which means around nine months of time that reflects “the emotional experience that accompanies This process”.

And all this, from an intimate and emotional look, using the visual dialectic as an instrument to show human strength in the face of adversity. In his photographs, feelings are the central axis of the work, including uncertainty, fear, joy and love, which help the viewer to understand the most human part of this disease.

Among 1,000 photographs

In order to expose the 34 photographs that can be seen, the author and his mother have carried out a “screening” process on 1,000 initial snapshots, leaving them at 100 and, finally, on those exposed until April 22.

Vaquero acknowledges that this process, in addition to portraying “the beauty, within the sadness of this pathology”, has also served him on a personal level to “strengthen ties” and “learn to tell loved ones I love you”.

“When I first thought about this project, I was comforted by the idea that perhaps other people in the same situation could benefit from seeing the photographs. Few artists have dared to portray such a sensitive subject from within. This idea, linked to the need to record this part of life, encouraged me to carry the camera with me day after day at the hospital,” explains Vaquero.

Also, go to the words of the National Geographic photographer, Steve McCurry, who said: “if you know how to wait, people will forget about your camera and then their soul will come out.” This has happened to him in this process with his mother, whose exciting result is on display in the Los Serrano palace. They are more than just photographs.