Cancer, gender and care in The Family Imprint by Nancy Borowick

Abstract

This article aims to analyse the contributions of Nancy Borowick’s photographic project The Family Imprint (2017) to the contemporary visual culture of cancer from a gender and care ethics perspective. It is an intimate visual testimony that documents the terminal illness of her parents, both diagnosed with cancer at the same time. Using a qualitative methodology that combines bibliographic and documentary review, visual analysis, and a semi-structured interview with the author, three key themes are addressed: the contemporary representation of cancer, the gender dimension, and photography as a form of care. Borowick’s proposal, which integrates archival images and current photographs, constructs a revisited family album where the boundaries between the private and the public are blurred. The author articulates her dual role as daughter and photographer to generate a collaborative narrative that challenges the stereotypes associated with cancer, focusing on family dynamics, the active role of patients and the empathetic power of images. Far from an objectifying vision, The Family Imprint places the agency of the subjects portrayed at the centre and advocates an ethic of visual care. The project thus becomes a form of memory, resistance and humanisation in the face of illness.