Why do we only allow ourselves to be photographed when we are okay? And shouldn't one also depict life's valleys in addition to the heights of life? After all, both landscapes belong to us – and it is usually the latter that make us stand out, from which we learn and from which we emerge stronger.
The photographer Franziska Günther gained the knowledge when one day an unusual customer knocked on her door. "She was just 30 years old, her youngest child a few months – and she had breast cancer," she looks back today. The woman expressed the wish to have her body photographed, including the scars that the therapy and operations against cancer had left in and on her. The subsequent shoot should not be a mere act of memory. But one of self-love. The woman wanted to do something good for herself. To make it clear that she was fighting cancer not only for her family, but above all for herself.
Many more followed this customer. "For me as a photographer, and above all for me as a woman, it was clear that in the future, instead of just photographing people who come to my studio with a positive mood, who feel beautiful and valuable, I would like to reach the women who this feeling has often been abruptly withdrawn ", Franziska Günther tells us.
The shootings weren't always easy. But in the meantime she observed the little ups and downs through which the women went in front of the camera. Breakdowns, fears for life and the loss of femininity turned into pride, self-love and reconciliation with every photo.
Franziska Günther started offering free donation-based shootings for women suffering from cancer. She already had 45 models in front of the camera – but then Corona came and the appointments became fewer, while the inquiries continued to grow. So the photographer decided to do an outdoor group shoot on October 1st. The photos were only a minor matter – because it was more about networking the women with each other, exchanging ideas and drawing attention to the fact that every 8th woman in Germany will develop cancer in her life. This disease should no longer be a taboo. And if so many people are struggling with her, at least they can do it together.
In the project "strong & beautiful" we get to see women who are exactly that. And Franziska Günther helps you to feel that way again:
I wish from the bottom of my heart that every woman feels beautiful & strong! No matter what physical impact this terrible disease has left. I would like to help women with my pictures and encourage them to see themselves from a different perspective and to recognize their femininity.