New Born

Photo by Mika Ninagawa, Planning by Mika Masui (Nonprofit Organization E-BeC)

This is the second photobook from E-BeC featuring women who have undergone breast reconstruction surgery.

The first photobook was published in 2010 by the STP Project, the predecessor of E-BeC.
There was not much information about breast reconstruction surgery at that time. The photobook was conceived from the desire to make it more generally known, so 19 women including myself who had experienced breast reconstruction became models and shared our stories.

Fourteen years have passed since then.
The number of breast cancer patients increases every year and various treatments for breast cancer and methods for breast reconstruction continue to evolve.
Unfortunately, with respect to breast reconstruction surgery, the same cannot be said for the environment surrounding patients, which has not changed much at all.

What we feel on a daily basis through our E-BeC activities is the large regional disparity in the information that is available.
In the Tokyo Metropolitan Area, the flood of information and number of options leaves many patients troubled as to what to decide on and what to base their decision on.
Contrastingly, women living in areas removed from major cities haven't heard about breast reconstruction surgery. Even if they do know about it, they may not know where they can have the procedure done or what types of surgery are available and so they give up or are unable to opt for the surgical method they want. Some patients cannot go ahead with surgery due to opposition from the people around them. I've also heard that there are more women than you would imagine who don't have surgery because they don't know of anyone else who has had reconstruction and they don't fully understand what it involves.

We have decided to publish this second photobook from the desire to let as many women as possible know about breast reconstruction surgery and understand what it involves.

When you are not in a condition to be able to assess things calmly and logically, it is very difficult to gather the information necessary. This was also my experience. In those circumstances, the doctor told me about breast reconstruction surgery, which was not typical at the time, and that helped me to be able to move forward.

Our aim for this second photobook is to provide encouragement to breast cancer patients who feel as if their heart is breaking and to many other women as well.
"Mika Ninagawa is the only one who can truly capture our message in photographs!" I thought. In a leap of faith, I asked if she would consent to take the photographs and she graciously accepted.

More than 80 women applied to be models, which far exceeded our expectations. It must have been a big decision to show people a breast with a surgical scar. We selected 12 women who expressed desires such as to be photographed by Mika Ninagawa, to let more women know about breast reconstruction surgery, or to do something to help fellow breast cancer patients.

In recent years, breast reconstruction surgery has come to be perceived as part of taking care of changes to appearance caused by cancer treatment the same way as caring for one's appearance with wigs, makeup, and nail care. As with other kinds of care, it is up to the patient to decide whether or not to have reconstruction done. But not having surgery because you don't know about breast reconstruction and choosing not to have surgery based on knowledge of it are two entirely different things with different effects on a woman's mental and emotional quality of life.

E-BeC aspires to a society in which anyone anywhere can receive breast reconstruction surgery that meets a certain standard if that is what they desire. If this photobook is successful in stimulating interest in breast reconstruction surgery and providing an opportunity for women to obtain accurate information about it, then there is nothing that could bring us greater happiness.

Excerpts from the forewords 

Nonprofit Organization Empowering Breast Cancer / E-BeC

Mika Masui, Director

When I was approached to take the photographs for this photobook, I immediately accepted with the feeling that I wanted to do whatever I could to help. There is nothing that gives me greater happiness than being able to give even a little encouragement to someone move forward.

I wanted to create photographs that radiate an absolute sense of happiness. I approached the work with the desire to keep the focus away from the troubling and painful experiences the models had gone through and instead celebrate the shining "Now" that is possible exactly because they had endured and overcome those experiences.

Compared to a typical photoshoot, I planned a more relaxed schedule because I wanted to have enough time to genuinely engage with each model to be able to draw out the best in each one. Together with hair and make up staff, we worked as one team to help the models feel more confident and elicit even more self-love, and we concentrated on discovering and amplifying each woman's unique beauty.

All of the models got a direct feel for the radiance they embodied and translated it into strength that they projected outwardly to a degree above and beyond our expectations. I and all of the staff members were energized by that strength. It is my hope that the photographs will convey this beautiful positivity to everyone who views the photobook.

In conclusion, what was wonderful about this project to me was that it wasn't trying to promote breast reconstruction but rather to be a photobook that provides a source of information for women contemplating breast reconstruction that can assist them in making an informed decision. Through the models' photographs and their accounts of their experiences, people can learn about methods of breast reconstruction that are available as well as something about the lives of women with actual experience of breast cancer and breast reconstruction. If this photobook leaves readers with a more optimistic outlook than they had before encountering it, then that gives me much joy.