The Diamond Girls

October begins Breast Cancer Awareness month, a charity close to my heart. In college I was a Zeta Tau Alpha, one of the primary sponosrs of The Susan G Komen Foundation. I have a grandmother who was a survivor, one of my best friends mother's, a survivor. It has touched every single one of us, affecting our mothers, our sisters, our friends, our grandmothers. I wish you sat here reading this today and could honestly say "I do not know anyone who has been affected by the disease". But, unfortunately, that's not the case. Breast cancer effects 1 in 7 women, an astounding statistic.October is Breast Cancer awareness month and the beginning of the Diamond Girls.

If you got the newsletter, you know all about this (if not, get to my website and subscribe). The Diamond Girls, was started by Andi Diamond, a photographer in Tampa. Her mother and sister in law are both survivors, as is my Grandmother. Andi started the Diamond Girls as both a fundraiser and an awareness campaign. Her goal, to raise money for breast cancer research while giving hope to the women (and men) currently battling breast cancer. Once Andi told me about this, I knew I wanted to continue the concept up here in Jacksonville. Our goal - to photograph Breast Cancer Survivors, the scars, the stories, the pain as well as the triumph. At the end of all of this, we hope to put together a book of stories and images about surviving Cancer, a book that gives both hope and empowerment to all the women currently diagnosed with breast cancer, and sadly enough, the ones who will be diagnosed in the future. These women are our daughters, our sisters, our friends, hundreds of thousands of them diagnosed each year.

I would like to give these survivors a complimentary private "survivor session" where she has the opportunity to show her brave "battle wounds", physically and emotionally, in an artistic, tasteful, beautiful, and empowering manner. I want these women's stories to encourage other women going through similar experiences. Each woman will have access to a web gallery to view her images. At the end of the month, I plan on hosting a party to showcase the images we created together while raising funds for Susan G. Koman Breast Cancer Foundation (www.komen.org). I am anticipating alot of interest in this endeavor, so if you have a friend or family member who you think might be interested, please have her contact me ASAP as space will be limited. Thanks in advance for your interest and support!