Mexican photographer Sáshenka Gutiérrez hopes that the Ortega y Gasset Prize for Journalism for Best Photography, which she was awarded in Spain, will be an opportunity to raise awareness among people, not just women, about breast cancer.
Amelia Rojas
When Sandra Monroy learned that she would undergo a bilateral mastectomy as part of the treatment for breast cancer, which she had been diagnosed with at the age of 36, she wanted to document it.
That’s how she called her friend Sashenka Gutierrez to capture various moments of this process. From there comes the image Fuck Cancer that earned him in Spain the Ortega y Gasset Prize for Journalism for the best photography.
the history of photography
Sáshenka Gutiérrez, a photographer for Agencia EFE and a contributor to the newspaper El Universal, explains that the winning image documents the moment in which Sandra removes her bandages after surgery and that it was a moment of accompaniment and sisterhood.
“It is a photo that can be interpreted in many ways, but at that moment Sandra is not suffering, rather it was the first time she showed herself to the people who were there and what worried her the most was what was going to be the reaction of those people.
Including myself, I was afraid of how we were going to see her, but not on the contrary, it was an extremely beautiful moment, it is one of Sandra’s most vulnerable moments, but well, far from what she shows you, what cancer is like or what a woman with a double mastectomy, shows you love, strength, accompaniment.
The image is part of a photographic series that Sáchenka has made with Sandra Monroy. It began days before the surgery as a way to say goodbye to her breasts, and continues to this day, since the photographer continues to document the process of her friend, until she is finally discharged.
The activism of Sandra Monroy
Since this image was released on October 15, 2021, Sandra Monroy decided that her experience should serve more women. Far from self-conscious, this photograph is an instrument for the activism that she has led with the idea of eradicating beauty standards that harm women so much.
“She, far from being self-conscious, is super proud of her scars, with this message. Because you are also going through this disease and well, she says that breasts and a size, a measurement, do not define us as women.
This is like the beauty standards that society itself has established. She still says -hey, I don’t think with the chichis, I don’t walk with the chichis. I mean, then I love my scars and I’m very proud of them-“
seeks to raise awareness of the disease
For Sáchenka Gutiérrez, the Ortega y Gasset Prize for Journalism is, in addition to a recognition of her work, an opportunity for breast cancer to stop being a hidden issue and only remain in the privacy of the patient.
“But what makes me happy the most is that the photo is taken up again. Once again this story is put there, because in addition to accompanying it, it raises awareness. Because the truth is that there is very little information about the disease and we forget this point, that the
Breast cancer is one of the leading causes of death in Mexico. And not just for women, but also men can go through such a process.
Sáchenka commented that it is incredible that many women prefer to die than live a mastectomy, so awareness of the issue is urgent, so she hopes that this photograph will help a little to do so.
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