Warrior Portraits After Breast Cancer

My friend Danyel takes photos of breast cancer survivors in her studio on Hillsboro Oregon. In this episode she describes what that's been like, and she also talks about her recent diagnosis with stage four breast cancer. Don't forget to rate and review the show and if you want to enter for a prize for doing so, email a screenshot of your review to me at [e-mail] Subscribe on: APPLE PODCASTS - SPOTIFY - AMAZON Or watch on YouTube: https://youtu.be/agbu6QjDiXs Support my work by making a donation here: https://liberapay.com/abreastcancerdiary/ Join my Newsletter List here: https://abreastcancerdiary.substack.com Resources: The facebook group that Danyel and I connect on is called Oregon Flatties The Photo experience that we referred to is Warrior Women Portraits, in Hillsboro Oregon. Transcript: Today's guest is my dear friend, Danyel Rogers. Danyel lives just one town away from me, and she is the founder of Warrior Women Portraits, and she's kind of a local celebrity for it. She was diagnosed with invasive ductal cancer in 2022, stage one, and she had four rounds of chemo after that diagnosis. And in July of 2024, just recently, she was re diagnosed again with stage four, and she has triple negative breast cancer, which is going to be the main topic of our discussion for the second half of today's conversation. Welcome, Danyel. D: Thank you so much for having me. K: I wanted to ask you, first off, it was kind of a perfect setup because last week's guest, Brenda, mentioned how much she loved her experience in your studio, in your photography studio. And so first off, I wanted to ask how you were inspired to create your project, Warrior Women Portraits. Absolutely. I knew in the very beginning when I was diagnosed, even while I was going through treatment, I wanted to give back in the breast cancer world and really just kind of lift them up. Um, I knew it needed to be something unique, something that other photographers weren't actually, offering to the women that have been diagnosed with cancer. I just wanted something really powerful, not necessarily pretty, but powerful. Because we're, we're always, you know, when we get this diagnosis, we're drafted to war, you know, we don't have a say in it. It's not like, you know, we're just getting reconstruction just for the fun of it. And so, you know, we just have no choice other than to fight. To just do what we can to stay on this, this earth as long as we can. And I wanted the experience to kind of mimic that. As I was watching, fellow flatties at the, flat retreat that was in, that April. I really noticed the, the impact that a group of women had that just knew and understood. And so that's when I knew it needed to be a group session, um, so that they could lean on each other and just have fun and connect. And the more I thought about this, the more it just kind of, it just excited me because It could be people that are 20 years out that feel so much strength that they've beat this and, you know, they've really connected to other women that just need that extra, you know, pick me up of you are strong, you are, you know, resilient, and I love showcasing that. So I really wanted it to be, regardless of what stage type, you could be stage zero. I, and I don't even care if it's a breast cancer diagnosis, cancer's cancer in my opinion, then I just get to, you know, watch it all happen and unfold. K: Yeah. Yeah, I remember, I was one of your first victims and was so honored, so honored for it. And I was, I'm not a girly girl. I don't wear makeup except for a little lipstick now and then. And so I was just like, when I walked in, I was like, Oh, this is going to involve so much more than I realized. There's, there's makeup, there's weaponry. You have a whole arsenal. You have lots of jewelry. Uh, it was a really cool kind of almost like a playful activity that reminded me of, of being a child again, but in a more strong, strengthening kind of way. So, and, and I love that you're open to people who don't identify with the warrior image because there's a lot of survivors that don't, like me, who are pacifists maybe and don't want to take up the, the sword or…. D: Yes, that's, and that was my big thing too, like, aside from the name being Warrior Women, if Goddess, or whatever, whatever, like, just a beautiful human being, like, it doesn't have to have a label either. Um, and I do, like, you do not have to pick up a weapon of any nature, like, it is there for you. Um, but I want to make sure that. Women understand that you can go as grungy or as minimal like you, or just, you know, do more ethereal kind of looks. And that's all part of the journey in the studio. And we, we, we just have fun and go in and out of what, um, our visions may look like idea boards and inspiration boards for different poses, but also for different facial makeup and hair and all the different things. K: So we don't have to, ...