When fashion and beauty photographer David Jay’s good friend developed breast cancer at 32, the focus of his art took an unexpected turn. His friend let him photograph her mastectomy scars in which he saw great strength and beauty. Then he was asked to photograph a couple of other cancer survivors’ scars, too. Thus was born The Scar Project, a series of large scale portraits of young breast cancer survivors.

“On the surface an awareness raising campaign for young women, The SCAR Project’s deeper message is one of humanity. Ultimately, The SCAR Project is not about breast cancer, but the human condition itself; the images transcend the disease, illuminating the scars that unite us all.” –The Scar Project mission statement

These would be stunning portraits even without the scars and the deeper meaning. He’s published a book of the photographs, “The SCAR Project: Breast Cancer Is Not a Pink Ribbon.” It looks beautiful, but I’m not in love with the fact that he’s not donating any of the proceeds, so I’ve decided to instead donate what I would have spent on the book to Gilda’s Club.