“#bOObs for Life” Exhibition in Los Angeles


#bOObs for Life is a compilation of visually portrayed stories about physical trauma, personal struggle, survival, and the celebration of life. The exhibition is the fruit of the collaborative work of photographer Sylvia Kouveli and artist Ted Meyer, presented with the support with the American Cancer Society.

Sylvia’s work for breast cancer awareness in young women is a series of bold photographs depicting the diversity of female chests. It is meant to motivate the subject, as well as the viewer, to proactively monitor their breast health. #bOObs aims to inform and educate women, regardless of their medical history, while providing a safe space for open conversation within the community, both in the studio and on social media.

Ted creates artwork from scars that celebrate strength and survival. Through his art-making, photography and stories, Ted portrays the beauty and humor of physicality while exploring narratives of the human condition. Scarred for Life consists of artistically enhanced monoprints taken directly from the scarred skin of his subjects. Each image tells a unique story of medical crisis, resilience and healing.

These two projects come together in #bOObs for Life to create a unique visual journey and explore health, trauma and healing through breast cancer stories and informative material.

ABOUT THE ARTISTS
Sylvia Kouveli is a photographer with a fascination for visual sociology. She works on projects that build awareness and enhance inclusion in a social ambience and through collaborative social action.

Ted Meyer is a nationally recognized artist, curator and patient advocate who works with patient artists, students and medical professionals to tell stories of how illness has affected lives, not only negatively, but often positively.

Ted and Sylvia met two years ago in Athens, Greece and immediately connected as they found common ground in their respective works. An artistic patient advocate and a breast health advocate come together to explore narratives of the human condition such as self-identity and mortality, as well as ideas like denialism, physical and cultural taboos, and aesthetic norms.

ABOUT THE GALLERY
The Perfect Exposure Gallery is the recognized venue in Southern California to display the work of award winning and accomplished photojournalists as well as works of photographers that regard artistry and craftsmanship as a standard of excellence.

The mission of the Perfect Exposure Gallery is to present exhibits free of charge to the general public with the following goals to exemplify the rich variety and impact of photography, freedom of expression, a forum for the aesthetic, the contemptible and the sublime.

Exhibition dates: Tuesday 12, October 2019 to Sunday 20, October 2019
Opening Reception: Saturday 12, October 2019, 6pm – 9pm

Click here to find out more about the #bOObs project.
Click here to see a video on the Scarred for Life project.

What’s Art Collective + #bOObs Collab in BCN

Ms. Balloon, Nanda Type and Airan Mahe of “What’s Art Collective” came together with Sylvia Kouveli and the “#bOObs” project last Saturday, 16th of March for a day of breast cancer awareness and art!

After a presentation and a discussion on how to detect possible signs and symptoms of cancer and how to do a self breast exam, the participants felt more confident to check their bodies.

Then, they chose a phrase each, which was drawn on them, to reflect their thoughts with lettering on their skin. We’ll let the photos speak for themselves! By the way, how well do YOU know your body?

Skin On Sundays + #bOObs Collab in BCN

From a chance encounter in Barcelona, I had the pleasure of getting to know and collaborating with Jessica of Skin On Sundays to bring some beautiful physiopoetry to the #bOObs project.

After learning about the #bOObs project, Jessica wrote some poetry and some poetic phrases that could reflect feelings and situations related to breast cancer, insecurities, body image, etc.

We met with the women who wanted to participate in the project and after a cozy session of sharing personal stories, learning about self-exams and how to detect signs of breast cancer, each woman was matched with a poem which was then written on her body for the final photo.

It was a truly unique and beautiful experience that all participants thoroughly enjoyed.

#bOObs December Show & Tell

During the month of December the #bOObs Instagram account (@boobs4prevention) is YOURS!

Show your #bOObs & tell your story. You can remain anonymous or reveal all! Your choice!

HOW TO:

  1. Find a white wall.
  2. Take a photo of your chest square on. (It can be in a neutral or expressive pose.)
  3. Write something you feel like saying. (If you feel like it.)
  4. Send it to me via DM on Instagram or email.

Watch this video of me explaining what the #bOObs Show & Tell is.

And don’t forget to check out the December Show & Tell Instagram Stories here.

 

UPDATE

Check out some of the December Show & Tell submissions below, but make sure you visit the project’s Instagram account to read what these women and more have to say!

#bOObs in the media

Leading up to the exhibition of the #bOObs project at iFocus Gallery in Athens, Greece, several media outlets picked up the story, helping to break taboos related to the female body and spread the word about breast cancer awareness.


LadyLike magazine
More on my interview with LadyLike here.


Huffington Post
More on my interview with the Huff Post here.

Kathimerini national newspaper
More on my interview with Kathimerini here.


Athens Voice

iFocus photography magazine

Fotografos photography magazine


Photologio photography news


City Cypriot news site

Photonet photography magazine

REEK. Female achievement blog

Huff Post

 

On the eve of the inauguration of the #bOObs project’s photo exhibition, I had the pleasure of speaking with journalist Alexandra Skaraki from the Huffington Post Greece about my work and the exhibition itself.

 

Take a look at the full article here: Huff Post
Although it’s in Greek, with your browser’s auto-translate plugin, you can understand the basics. 🙂

 

Exhibition:

Opening night: Tuesday, October 23rd at 8:30pm
Duration: October 23 – 29, 2018
iFocus Gallery | Akadimias 57 & Ippokratous 13

Don’t miss the opening night, where Dr. M. Philippidis, Gynecologist and Breast Surgeon at Mediterraneo Hospital, will speak about what we all need to be aware of at different stages of our lives when it comes to breast cancer and ways to prevent it.

 

Kathimerini

How cool is it to have your morning coffee reading a national newspaper with an article in it about your project? TOTALLY COOL!

That’s exactly what happened today and I’m absolutely thrilled about it!

I spoke to journalist Ioanna Fotiadi, editor at Kathimerini -one of the main national newspapers in Greece, about #bOObs: the project’s goals, the aesthetic and the exhibition. Her article was printed in the Culture section of the paper, inviting all to the exhibition.

You can check out the online version here.

Details on the exhibition:

Opening night: Tuesday, October 23rd at 8:30pm
Duration: October 23 – 29, 2018
iFocus Gallery:  Akadimias 57 & Ippokratous 13

Don’t miss the opening night, where Dr. M. Philippidis, Gynecologist and Breast Surgeon at Mediterraneo Hospital, will speak about what we all need to be aware of at different stages of our lives when it comes to breast cancer and ways to prevent it.

See you there!

LadyLike

I had the absolute pleasure of meeting journalist Dimitra Tsigene and photographer Francesca Watkinson from LadyLike, whom I welcomed at my studio where we had a wonderful chat about the #bOObs project.

 

We spoke about how it all started and why I felt the need to do this project, its implementation and the importance of doing the photo sessions in groups (with the photos shot privately). We discussed why the project is anonymous, not showing any faces, making women’s chests the protagonist and the overall aim of #bOObs.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Then, we took some photos for the magazine, recreating the project’s aesthetic, where I was placed in front of the lens.

 

 

 

 

 

Here is the full interview in Greek (you’re welcome to use your browser’s auto translation feature to get the gist of the story) with Francesca’s lovely photos: LadyLike interview

Last but not least, I invite you to my first solo exhibition, where you can get an up close and personal look at the #bOObs project.

Opening night: Tuesday, October 23rd at 8:30pm
Duration: October 23 – 29, 2018
iFocus Gallery | Akadimias 57 & Ippokratous 13

Don’t miss the opening night, where Dr. M. Philippidis, Gynecologist and Breast Surgeon at Mediterraneo Hospital, will speak about what we all need to be aware of at different stages of our lives when it comes to breast cancer and ways to prevent it.

 

 

 

#bOObs Exhibition – Athens

Opening night: Tuesday, October 23rd at 8:30pm
Duration: October 23 – 29, 2018
iFocus Gallery | Akadimias 57 & Ippokratous 13

Don’t miss the opening night, where Dr. M. Philippidis, Gynecologist and Breast Surgeon at Mediterraneo Hospital, will speak about what we all need to be aware of at different stages of our lives when it comes to breast cancer and ways to prevent it.

UPDATE:

Take a look below at some of the snapshots of the opening night.
More photos here.