For photographer Bob Carey and his wife Linda, a man-sized pink tutu has taken on incredible meaning in their fight against breast cancer. The Tutu Project started in 2003 when Carey donated a picture of himself wearing a custom-made ballet skirt as part of a fund raiser for the Arizona Ballet. Soon after, Linda was diagnosed with breast cancer. "It wasn't about her when I started," Carey tells Shine. But when she was recovering from surgery, he found it was the one thing he could do to take break. "It takes a lot of love for him to put that tutu on," Linda tells Shine. "And it makes us laugh."
Using a tripod, Carey has now shot more than 110 images of himself in
settings ranging from the desert in New Mexico to the Staten Island
Ferry. He plans to compile them into a book called 'Ballerina' which
will be published this fall. Currently, the project's website
is selling individual prints and t-shirts to raise money to assist
others suffering from the disease. The website has been up for a week
(it launched March 12, 2012) and has raised about $8000 so far.
"So many women need help," Linda tells Shine. The couple wants to aid
women who need meals brought in or can't afford transportation to their
chemotherapy sessions. The money would also help pay for alternative
therapies such as acupuncture that aren't covered by most insurance.
Linda's cancer recurred in 2006. "But I'm feeling good," says Linda.
I've been in chemo for five years and most days I'm okay." Since the
beginning, she says she refused to be defined by her condition and told
her oncologist, "I don't do statistics." Her husband adds, "She's kind
of a rock star at the cancer center."
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