Tula Goenka was on her daily stroll through the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications at Syracuse University in 2009 when she saw a poster about Christie Hefner, the former Playboy Enterprises chairman and chief executive officer. Hefner was coming to the university to speak.

It was then that Goenka — a Newhouse Endowed Chair of Public Communications — came up with the idea of her project, “Look Now: Facing Breast Cancer.”

“Being a breast cancer survivor, I saw the sign and thought to myself, ‘Would Playboy ever put somebody like me?’” Goenka said. “What does it mean to be a woman? What does it mean to be feminine? What is considered sexy?”

Goenka is the project director, working alongside project photographer Cindy Bell. The exhibition is on display from Oct. 8 to 31 at SU’s Point of Contact Gallery in Armory Square. It features different multimedia pieces, including a short documentary, portraits and interactive elements. Goenka and Bell will give a tour of the exhibit on Oct. 11 at 5 p.m., followed by a reception from 6-8 p.m.

In 2010, Goenka did a proof of concept and held a panel discussion in Newhouse. She didn’t have enough time for her project then. But after being elected to the endowed chair position, her teaching load was reduced, and Newhouse gave her the funds to pursue it. Since then, she’s been working on her project’s exhibition.

Gina Gayle, a doctoral student and Goenka’s research assistant, helped organize the entire exhibition, recruiting participants by reaching out to different support groups.

The main pieces are portraits shot by Bell, a local photographer. The 44 participants, both men and women, reveal their bare chests in these photographs, exposing their scars. Twenty-five participants agreed to reveal their identities in the portraits, while 19 chose to remain anonymous.

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“This project was a little different because I had to capture the essence of their personality,” Bell said.

Being a breast cancer survivor herself, Bell was especially moved by the project.

“I’ve been there,” she said. “I know how it feels.”

Goenka said the purpose of the portraits is to emphasize that you never know what someone is going through. She said the exhibition aims to provide a voice and hope for survivors, those who are undergoing treatment now and those who might be diagnosed in the future.

Rachel Francisco, an academic coordinator at Newhouse whose portrait was taken for the exhibit, was never diagnosed with breast cancer but got a mastectomy at the age of 29.

After five members of her immediate family were diagnosed with breast cancer, she found out she was BRCA1-positive. This genetic mutation raises the chances of her getting breast cancer to 85 percent throughout her entire life. After four years of debating, she decided to get a mastectomy.

“At the time I had two young children, and I wanted to see them grow up,” Francisco said.

Francisco said there were so many factors during this process that she had never thought of prior.

“You never really think about not being able to breastfeed anymore, and all these things that make you a woman,” Francisco said.

Although it was a tough decision, Francisco is content with the way it turned out. She feels like a stronger person and is very grateful that there is now only a 2 percent chance of her being diagnosed with breast cancer.

“So many people had to make this decision facing cancer,” Francisco said. “I didn’t.”

With the exhibition’s upcoming reception, Goenka is excited for everyone to see all the work everyone has put into the final project.

“It’s really about empowering people,” Goenka said. “Empowering the people who participate, empowering the people who came to the gallery.”

Published on October 9, 2018 at 9:15 pm

Contact Raven: rarentas@syr.edu