Click Magazine (March/April 2019)

When 37-year-old Brooklyn photographer Anna Rathkopf was diagnosed with an aggressive form of breast cancer, she knew her life, as well as the lives of her husband, Jordan, and their then 3-year-old son, Jesse, were forever changed.

On the day after hearing the diagnosis, Anna and Jordan, also a photographer, made the remarkable decision together to document what they were going through. Says Anna, “Images can help other people. Documenting gave me purpose — control over a situation I had absolutely no control over.”

Through their resolve to create this breathtaking photo project the couple yearned to encourage women — especially the very young — to be both more vigilant and more optimistic: When he started researching, says Jordan, “I came across photo essays that were extremely powerful, but ended tragically. It left me feeling even more hopeless. I thought to myself how much I hoped we could have a photo essay with a happier ending.”

Themes of motherhood circled in and around the photographs of the young family’s journey. Anna’s treatment had immediate implications for their plans for more children, and Jordan’s mother, too, had successfully fought breast cancer years before. “I realized this project could help other women,” says Anna. “Even though you feel you’re falling into a black pit, you’re still alive.” Here’s to Anna, in remission, and vibrantly, radiantly living every moment.