A new photo series highlights the diverse experiences of breast cancer patients

The new photography project “Marks of Majesty” diversifies typical narratives of breast cancer by featuring models who vary in age, race and gender expression.

For many people, being diagnosed with breast cancer, and undergoing surgery, brings about a period of grief for the loss of their figure as they’ve known it — among other things. But Vanessa Gonzalez faced their double mastectomy with a calm certainty, and eventually even came to celebrate it. Gonzalez, who is nonbinary, told CNN over the phone that their gender identity had been clear to them since age 5, but cultural norms kept them from fully expressing their true self. “A year before getting diagnosed with cancer, I was already considering getting top surgery,” Gonzalez, a 41-year-old chef based in Los Angeles, said. “So when I found my lump (in 2021), probably the easiest decision out of this whole process was to remove my breasts. My journey after surgery looked a lot different than for most ciswomen,” adding that it helped them finally feel at home in their body. Gonzalez is one of seven models currently featured in “Marks of Majesty,” a new photography project aimed at raising awareness of breast cancer, and the diverse population it affects. Its models — scouted by Stephanie Francis, the project’s co-director and designer — strike vulnerable, yet confident poses, revealing how cancer has transformed their bodies while also asserting themselves in their overhauled embodiment of beauty, body image and gender expression. In the photos, many of the models have regal silver or gold metallic paint brushed across their surgical scars. The paint turns their bodies into “works of art,” said Julia Comita, the photographer and co-director behind the project, in a phone interview with CNN.