“The hair has fallen out, the chest has been cut off, you cease to seem like a woman to yourself.” Photographer Olga Pavlova on how art helps to survive cancer

– When you thought about what the faces and stories would be, did you choose people whom you personally know? How did they get on your subway wall?

– My first heroines were my good friends who were sick, whom I have known for a long time. Some came when I announced the project, and we became friends with them, I knew someone before. Here is Nadezhda Kuznetsova, who came to me to film, got sick during pregnancy, and the question was “she or the child.” A way was found when both were rescued, and she was already undergoing chemotherapy with a big belly. She went bald like everyone else and was very upset about this, although she is not the kind of person who would be upset because of her hair, but her eldest son, who was then 3-4 years old, was afraid of her. I said to her: “Nadya, please come to me. I will take a picture of you at the window, and you will see how beautiful you are. ” And so it happened, I took it off and said: “Look how cool you are, bald,” she says: “Yes, indeed.” Since then, she stopped wearing headscarves. This greatly enhances self-awareness, self-esteem.

This is the most important thing in treatment when you are not under stress, and for a woman, stress # 1 is a loss of external qualities. Your hair has fallen out, your breasts have been cut off, you cease to seem like a woman to yourself and because of this you experience terrible stress. This has a negative effect on treatment and prognosis.

Then, when we made a website and took pictures of our friends, stories from all over the country and from all over the world fell. This is not to say that I somehow chose. I chose, rather by age and diagnosis, those who were available, who could be removed. It is clear that I want and will film all those who came to the site, because they deserve it. These are women who are ready to open their stories, faces, and talk about it publicly. Of course, they should all receive their therapy. For this, I will create a league of photographers, so that in each city there will be trained photographers who will do what I do.

– Will it be a volunteer project?

– This is an all-Russian volunteer project. He already works in Kazan. I went there, we took pictures of several women who are at the exhibition, and now there are already three photographers there who are doing the same. An exhibition will be held in Kazan in March.

– When you came to the metro with the idea of ​​this exhibition, was it difficult to come to an agreement?

– The Met the first time said: “Yes.” This is an incredible story. For the Department of Transportation, this is a very bold step, because even many media outlets refuse and say: “We do not want about cancer. Why are you loading us with this? It’s unpleasant, we don’t want to think about it. ”

We began to look for a station where we could do this exhibition and did not find it, because part of the station has historical significance – nothing can be hung or drilled anywhere, plus there is a strong wind at the stations of the Moscow metro. Technically, it turned out to be difficult, although we searched for a very long time. For several months we traveled all over the metro and all the stations.

At some point we drove past Kashirskaya, where I saw a flat and white wall. We looked at the next station, it did not fit us, and I say: “Here, we passed Kashirskaya, there is a white wall. What is it? “, They say:” There is a renovation. ” I say, “How long will this white wall stand?” – “Until the New Year for sure.” We went back there and found a place, because obviously this is the best place where people leave the cancer center and immediately bump into those who survived. This is a very uplifting story.

– Have you watched the reaction of people to these photos?

– I see how people approach and read. It’s hard to say about the reaction now, but I see the reaction in our Instagram. As soon as the exhibition was assembled, on December 1, they began to write to me on Instagram: “I am going with radiation therapy from Blokhin. I saw it and was stunned. It’s a shock, it’s amazing. Thank you, I am now in a completely different mood. How can I get to you? ” They write: “I also want to be a billboard.”

– A mighty thing turned out. Will it be by the end of December?

– Yes, until the end of December. I also expect that Deptrans will say: “Let it hang on. Whom does it bother? “