My friend Danyel takes photos of breast cancer survivors in her studio on Hillsboro Oregon. In this episode she describes what that's been like, and she also talks about her recent diagnosis with stage four breast cancer.

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Resources:

The facebook group that Danyel and I connect on is called Oregon Flatties

The Photo experience that we referred to is Warrior Women Portraits, in Hillsboro Oregon.

Transcript:

Today's guest is my dear friend, Danyel Rogers. Danyel lives just one town away from me, and she is the founder of Warrior Women Portraits, and she's kind of a local celebrity for it.

She was diagnosed with invasive ductal cancer in 2022, stage one, and she had four rounds of chemo after that diagnosis. And in July of 2024, just recently, she was re diagnosed again with stage four, and she has triple negative breast cancer, which is going to be the main topic of our discussion for the second half of today's conversation. Welcome, Danyel.

 

D:

Thank you so much for having me.

 

K:

I wanted to ask you, first off, it was kind of a perfect setup because last week's guest, Brenda, mentioned how much she loved her experience in your studio, in your photography studio. And so first off, I wanted to ask how you were inspired to create your project, Warrior Women Portraits.

Absolutely. I knew in the very beginning when I was diagnosed, even while I was going through treatment, I wanted to give back in the breast cancer world and really just kind of lift them up. Um, I knew it needed to be something unique, something that other photographers weren't actually, offering to the women that have been diagnosed with cancer. I just wanted something really powerful, not necessarily pretty, but powerful. Because we're, we're always, you know, when we get this diagnosis, we're drafted to war, you know, we don't have a say in it. It's not like, you know, we're just getting reconstruction just for the fun of it. And so, you know, we just have no choice other than to fight. To just do what we can to stay on this, this earth as long as we can. And I wanted the experience to kind of mimic that. As I was watching, fellow flatties at the, flat retreat that was in, that April. I really noticed the, the impact that a group of women had that just knew and understood. And so that's when I knew it needed to be a group session, um, so that they could lean on each other and just have fun and connect. And the more I thought about this, the more it just kind of, it just excited me because It could be people that are 20 years out that feel so much strength that they've beat this and, you know, they've really connected to other women that just need that extra, you know, pick me up of you are strong, you are, you know, resilient, and I love showcasing that. So I really wanted it to be, regardless of what stage type, you could be stage zero. I, and I don't even care if it's a breast cancer diagnosis, cancer's cancer in my opinion, then I just get to, you know, watch it all happen and unfold.

 

K:

Yeah. Yeah, I remember, I was one of your first victims and was so honored, so honored for it. And I was, I'm not a girly girl. I don't wear makeup except for a little lipstick now and then. And so I was just like, when I walked in, I was like, Oh, this is going to involve so much more than I realized. There's, there's makeup, there's weaponry. You have a whole arsenal. You have lots of jewelry. Uh, it was a really cool kind of almost like a playful activity that reminded me of, of being a child again, but in a more strong, strengthening kind of way. So, and, and I love that you're open to people who don't identify with the warrior image because there's a lot of survivors that don't, like me, who are pacifists maybe and don't want to take up the, the sword or….

 

D:

Yes, that's, and that was my big thing too, like, aside from the name being Warrior Women, if Goddess, or whatever, whatever, like, just a beautiful human being, like, it doesn't have to have a label either. Um, and I do, like, you do not have to pick up a weapon of any nature, like, it is there for you. Um, but I want to make sure that. Women understand that you can go as grungy or as minimal like you, or just, you know, do more ethereal kind of looks. And that's all part of the journey in the studio. And we, we, we just have fun and go in and out of what, um, our visions may look like idea boards and inspiration boards for different poses, but also for different facial makeup and hair and all the different things.

 

K:

So we don't have to, when we show up in your studio, we don't have to have an idea of what we want. Maybe we have a color idea or a theme idea, but no one has to arrive with lots of ideas that they get They get inspired by looking at your idea boards and vision boards coming off of off of your screen.

D:

And I'm a little, I mean, it's a little for me too because, know, chemo brain is a thing and trying to be like, Oh yeah, I wanted to do that pose, but I forgot. Um, but it's been honestly really helpful for everybody in the studio from the model to me to the person that is, waiting their turn because the person waiting their turn can take a look at some of these poses and like, “Oh, we're doing this staff.”
And so it kind of pulls the other person that isn't being photographed into the into the experience, so to speak. And that allows me to be able to stay behind the camera getting the shot and things like that.

So it's really cool because it makes the experience like we're all in it together. So like the next lady, when she's done, you know, we flip it and like, Oh, I wanted to do that, that so and so did and, you know, and then it just becomes really exciting and just kind of fluid, really.

 

K:

Oh, yeah. And it's nice. You know, when you're posing for a camera, it's super awkward socially. But if you have your own cheering section and in the margins, you know, like it makes it so much more relaxing and fun. fun and playful. And then you can really get into it and start to kind of ad lib in a way that you wouldn't if you didn't have someone kind of laughing with you and in the bleachers.

 

D:

The emotions are going to be there. You're going to be like, you're going to feel silly, right? Like, if I'm having you, like, scream or growl, like, that's not your normal, like, persona, right? Um, but it, I think it works. It's amazing. But then we get the laughter right after. To just be like, Oh my gosh, look at that natural smile you captured. Um, so there's all that, the component of getting the grungy and then usually there's the funny after as well. So, um, you get it all. Heh heh heh.

K:

You have a lot of furs and I really loved my portrait that came back with the furs. Um, because it made me feel a little more connected to the earth, the basic elements. I feel like with this cancer diagnosis, I became more in touch with my mortality in a way that I was okay with.

Like I was admitting that I, I came from the earth and I'm going to return to the earth. And so it's weird. Like I used to wear a lot of. I