As a child, people did not talk openly about cancer, never mind breast cancer. At five, my grandmother died. It was one of the only times in my life I remember my mom crying. When I was 22, my mom died. I cried. People still did not want to talk about it. They both died at 50 from breast cancer.

In Cup Half Full: Life in the face of breast cancer, it is our hope and our prayer that what you see is the human spirit shining through the disease; that the spirit of those courageous enough to participate in this book is an inspiration. Comfort comes in knowing that we are not alone. It comes from being seen in our raw nakedness, with no hair on our head or on our body, and our loved ones are still willing to see us for who we are, not what we look like.

The photographs invite you to see life. All life. As you look at the faces, the relationships, the bodies, the scars, the expressions... I believe you will see yourself, or someone you know, reflected back to you.

Young and old, women and men, African American, Asian, Caucasian, Indian, Israeli, Latino, Native American…breast cancer does not discriminate. When you read the words, you may feel they could be your own. Words you would say. Each of us has a story. This story is everyone’s story, everyone with breast cancer, everyone living and everyone who has died—everyone in the world. We are one.

The photos in Cup Half Full span as many as 20 years. A unique quality of this book is that some of the people seen here were photographed before they had breast cancer, as well as during and after. You can see people who are in the midst of treatment and years later. As a photographer for over 35 years, it is a profound experience documenting people’s life stories. I am always humbled when I review the photos I have made of people over time and see the subtle, and not so subtle, changes.

With all the technology we have available to us now, I still love sitting down with a book of photos. Each photo contains a multitude of stories and holds a piece of history, a moment in time, a part of our legacy. I always tell people, even when they are in the midst of a challenge such as breast cancer and don’t feel good about how they look…at least have the photo made. One day, you may look back and say, “Wow, if I could make it through that, I can make it through anything.” And maybe, just maybe, you, or someone you know, may look at the photograph and say, “You are stunning! “