Breast cancer survivor captures inner beauty

Meri R. Kennedy
Posted 11/5/14

Cranston resident, artist and photographer Mary Jane Condon Bohlen, 70, is turning to the Internet to raise funds for her latest project, “Bosom Buddies,” a book of photos and essays of breast …

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Breast cancer survivor captures inner beauty

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Cranston resident, artist and photographer Mary Jane Condon Bohlen, 70, is turning to the Internet to raise funds for her latest project, “Bosom Buddies,” a book of photos and essays of breast cancer survivors.

“The book will be a great self-esteem builder for the models themselves,” Bohlen said. “Women who are faced with breast cancer will see that there is life after breast cancer as they view the images and read the essays of the survivors. Families and friends of survivors can read the experiences of other survivors. I have already seen transformation in many of the photographs already taken with survivors in various backgrounds, often doing what they like to do.”

Funding is a major obstacle for getting any artistic project off the ground, and the current state of the economy does not make raising funds any easier. Those working in the arts have become more innovative in their fundraising tactics and are embracing crowdfunding sites such as Kickstarter. The day her Kickstarter began on Oct. 24, she had already raised nearly $1,000.

In line with Kickstarter guidelines, artists have a set number of days to raise all the funds, or the project receives nothing. Bohlen’s book has a 37-day fundraising window, from start to finish. If the allotted budget of $20,000 isn’t raised before Nov. 29, all pledges are cancelled and the project is not funded.

“The ability to spread the word quickly online to many people, and keep them updated on the project, is invaluable,” Bohlen said. “An additional advantage for artists is Kickstarter’s merchant partner Amazon.com, which enables each project the convenience of receiving funds from anywhere in the world.”

The title of Bohlen’s book, “Bosom Buddies,” comes from her encounter with a magnificent tree that she was drawn to in the spring of 1993. Over 400 years old, the tree in Ledyard, Conn., stood 90 feet high, with a circumference of over 26 feet. The tree had been declared dead in June of 1969 due to damage by gypsy moths. It was once a sacred place where Native Americans would come together to vote and decide on important tribal issues. Bohlen took many photographs of the oak, and upon returning home to Virginia, she quickly developed the film and printed her images.

“On close inspection, I began to see a one-breasted figure that immediately inspired me to create an aquatint etching which I titled ‘Bosom Buddy,’” Bolen said.

Although gnarled and broken, Bohlen discovered the soul that lived on in this timeless beauty. In 2009, a new white oak was planted in its shadow as the old tree needed to be taken down.

In the spring of 1992, Mary Jane also found herself gnarled and broken when she was first diagnosed with breast cancer and treated with a radical mastectomy of her right breast.

The Ledyard Oak became her Bosom Buddy, and helped in relating to her inner beauty. Years later, in 2008, Bohlen was faced with breast cancer again and had her other breast removed as well.

“[Breast cancer survivors] begin to realize that their beauty does not lie beneath their clothing but beneath their skin. Their beauty is internal and shines from within,” she said. “Losing a breast can save your life. You can choose to have reconstruction or like myself choose not to go that route and have the freedom of never having to wear a bra again except for special occasions.”

For 20 years, Bohlen had the dream of creating a book of photos and essays showing the scars and reconstructions, thoughts, fears, inner spirit and especially hopes of those brave enough to bare their bodies and show their beauty, all inspired by this magnificent tree. The title of her book evolved to become “Bosom Buddies” in honor of the sisterhood she has come to know.

“Women from around the state and southeastern New England will be included in the book, so it is of interest to all Rhode Island residents,” Bohlen said. “Many have told me that participation in this book project has changed their views on their body image after breast cancer scars, procedures and treatments. They were fearless in ‘baring all’ from the top up for the book.”

Bohlen is an award-winning artist and photographer who grew up in Brookline, Mass., and lived in Foxboro, Mass., before moving to Fredericksburg, Va., where she taught kindergarten through eighth-grade art for almost 30 years.

She was the recipient of a Fulbright Memorial Teacher Fund Scholarship in 2000, and she along with 199 other teachers from throughout the U.S. spent three all-expense paid weeks in Japan. She is also proud of having been awarded the Smithsonian Folk Life Festival Silk Road Fellowship and the George Washington Foundation Federation Fellowship in addition to numerous scholarships, fellowships and grants.

Her career in photography began as a Medical Photographer at Beth Israel Hospital in Boston, and she later ran the photography department at Arrco Medical Art and Design.

“After living in Virginia for almost 30 years, I retired to Rhode Island and entered the certificate program in digital photography at Rhode Island School of Design, graduating in 2012,” said Bohlen.

For more information or to contribute, visit the Bosom Buddies Kickstarter at www.kickstarter.com/projects/958161935/bosom-buddies, or contact Bohlen at 474-8903 or emjay44@verizon.net.

(Reporter/columnist Meri R. Kennedy has also participated in Bosom Buddies as a breast cancer survivor.)

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