Eyes of Light aims to improve the quality of life and promote the social inclusion of people living with cancer, through the healing energy of artistic creation. The main goals are: 1) to help them express themselves, improve their emotional wellbeing, and strengthen their coping resources; 2) to reduce their social isolation; and 3) to challenge stigma and fear of cancer, raising awareness about prevention.

The tools applied towards these goals are based on the concept that art has great potential to engage and mobilise communities. The project’s main focus is the Therapeutic Photography Workshops, seminars of self-expression, specially designed to empower people directly or indirectly affected by cancer. In addition, we will organise creative projects to encourage the wider community and raise public awareness.

Our target groups remain largely the same, compared to START Phase II, that is, people living with cancer, family members and friends, as well as photographers. We plan to further address subgroups, such as caregivers, bereaved, patients undergoing chemotherapies; women with breast and gynaecological cancers, teenager patients and survivors, as well as photo enthusiasts and photo students.

Taking the experience we gained a step further, we will build upon our strengths, such as: 1) established methodology, 2) being considered experts in a field fairly new in Greece 3) having the support of related non-profits, 4) a strong portfolio of work to present to potential partners, 5) collaborations with the elite of photographers, and 6) having attracted important supporters. The main weaknesses of the project’s implementation so far, had to do with time and people management, something that will be easier to tackle now, by assigning duties to more suitable people, and having the opportunity to spread our activities in a more feasible timeframe.

Therefore, our workshops will be specialised and varied in methods and length, and more interdisciplinary, bringing drawing, painting, drama, collective play, and mindfulness in dialogue with photography. We will collaborate with more NGOs, and will engage the patients’ support networks. Our first iteration of unconventional collective shootings had such great results, that they will also be a major offering, either as part of workshops, or as shorter activities. The project “Cancer Survivors: The Faces of Hope” will continue with a second round of established photographers and cancer survivors working together. Additionally, we plan to include photo enthusiasts and photo students in a more engaging version of the unfinished online subproject “A Day Without Cancer”, and present our work in exhibitions and conventions in Athens, but also elsewhere.

Having experienced significant results on the groups I worked with, and a very positive audience and media response in less than six months, I’m convinced that this project can have great social impact, if given the opportunity to grow.
The widespread use of photography, and the power of our visual culture can be put to use to challenge the problematic stereotypes around cancer and its representation, reduce the isolation of cancer patients, and further spread the word about prevention.

Eyes of Light encourages people with cancer to face the challenges of the disease with a more positive attitude, utilizing the healing energy of artistic creation. Its main activity is Experiential-Therapeutic Photography Workshops, offered free of charge to adults who have experienced any kind of cancer. These specially designed seminars of self-expression, achieved through photography and innovative participatory activities, aim to improve the emotional well-being and quality of life of participants. In addition, Eyes of Light develops creative projects to support a wider community of people directly or indirectly affected by cancer, and raise public awareness about prevention. In this context, the project “Cancer Survivors: The Faces of Hope” brings together established photographers with cancer survivors to co-create portraits as emblems of personal strength and optimism. These acts of extraversion and connection to a wider audience seek to reduce the isolation of cancer patients and challenge problematic stereotypes around the disease and its representation, as well as to promote a more inclusive attitude in society and culture.

A two-day workshop was offered to a small group of young female cancer survivors. The group initially explored how to create meaning through visual elements and how composition influences the interpretation of images. They shared and discussed personal photos, exploring how they relate to images, and experimented with shifting their perspective through re-photography. Participants created ‘self-portraits’ with colored photo filters and mirrors, and expressed how they see themselves. Through the images, they explored what is most important for them ‘here and now’. They also photographed outdoors and found visual metaphors for positive feelings. The survivors, who were initially self-conscious, gradually opened up and shared thoughts and feelings about their life with and beyond cancer. They were very surprised and excited at discovering how their images led them to new insights about themselves and left the workshop with a desire to continue using photography for self-expression.