Moving Images of a Photographer’s Parents’ Battle with Cancer

New York-based photographer Nancy Borowick has been documenting her parents’ dueling battles with Stage IV cancer, carefully capturing both their struggle and their spirit in the midst of crisis. Cancer Family is an ongoing series full of surgery and chemotherapy, however it is the couple’s fierce love for each other that resounds in every frame.

With Borowick’s mother battling for almost two decades and her father diagnosed just a year ago, the pair’s days were mixed with profound joy and sadness in ways both small and large. Each beautiful black and white image is a gentle yet powerful testimony of their strength, and we become intimate with their personalities and daily lives. Although the Borowick family repeatedly states their story is a universal one, Cancer Family manages to share a deeply personal narrative with daring honesty, capturing enduring love and hope.

This past week, Howie Borowick passed away from pancreatic cancer. Beating the odds, he lived a year and a day after his initial diagnosis. He died on the 43rd anniversary of his mother’s death, who also had cancer. To quote his daughter, “He was the poetic type.”

This post was contributed by photographer and Feature Shoot Editorial Assistant Jenna Garrett.

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