Opinion: A husband and wife photographed each other during her cancer journey. Here is what they learned
When Anna Rathkopf was diagnosed with breast cancer, she and her husband, Jordan, tried to be strong for each other. But their photographs showed what they couldn’t say.
In 2016, at the age of 37, Anna Rathkopf was diagnosed with breast cancer. Anna and her husband, Jordan, both photographers, began documenting Anna’s treatment and the way cancer affected their entire family. But they didn’t look closely at the images until years later, when they began collecting photographers for a book, “HER2: The Diagnosed, the Caregiver, and Their Son.” Below, Anna and Jordan each describe how photography allowed them to process their experience.
Anna Rathkopf
At my five-year oncology visit, my doctor told me I was being transferred to survivorship care and, hopefully, I’d never need to see her again. Instead of relief, I had an intense feeling of fear. I realized I was afraid to enter “survivorship.”
