Diane Bruni is hands down both my favourite and most challenging subject. She is and always has been a beautiful and well formed creature… both inside and out. As her student I had always described her as equal parts Kindergarten teacher and ninja. I had photographed Diane's practice extensively just prior to her cancer diagnosis.
In photographing Diane in the months following her cancer treatment and mastectomy, my understanding of beauty has been wholly reconstructed. My notions of what makes a photograph has been ground down and remade. Her tremendous strength has made me stronger, her openness has made me more open, and her great vulnerability has given me a greater capacity for empathy. She inspires me every time I see her.
It's been both an exercise in humility and my great honour to have documented this stage of Diane's journey.