Welcome to Project 10

View Toni Killefer's Project 10 slideshow

TONI KILLEFER TOP LEFT: "3. who I love: Reason #1 to be a cancer survivor: Ellen, 9 (Reason #2: Ian, 6 and Reason #3: Ned, 3)" BOTTOM LEFT: "1. my face (daily): This hat from a friend came in the mail the day before chemo started. It sums up how I feel but don't want to say out loud." TOP RIGHT: "3. who I love: No matter how bad I felt, I still had to get up to care for the dog and the kids. My dog never left my side. He knew I was sick." BOTTOM RIGHT: "9. something red: The night before chemo my youngest son split his head open and had to get stitches. It was supposed to be a quiet, restful evening. Random things happen no matter how carefully I am watching. It helps to ground me." © 2008 100 Survivors

Welcome to Project 10. We're glad you are here.

I am Julia Kim Smith, artist and co-founder of Project 10. Project 10 grew out of abject fear. My friend, fellow artist Francesca Danieli, and I had just finished working on a film together when I got an email from her that she had metastatic breast cancer. She had already battled and beaten Hodgkin's disease and breast cancer, but she had a bad feeling about this, Round Three with cancer. We decided to face our fears by collaborating on a project about women with breast cancer.

We came up with Project 10, a collaborative breast cancer photo journal project which we hoped would empower the women who participated. We recruited 10 from HopeWell Cancer Support in Brooklandville, Maryland and gave them cameras and a list of 10 tags to shoot and write from. We called ourselves "10 Survivors".

Project 10 exhibited in Maryland at venues including Maryland Institute College of Art, Creative Alliance, CenterStage, Komen MD, The Cancer Institute, and started to get some notice. When we saw how deeply moved people were by the photos and stories, we decided wouldn't it be great to reach out not just to 10 Survivors but to other survivors and create a book of the work.

This is where you come in. We need your help to grow Project 10 from a local community of women with breast cancer to a global community of 100 or more women just like you. Our goal is to reach out to 100 women, 100 Survivors like yourself, and publish a book, a book which will be a lasting photographic document to the power of hope. And with your help, we can accomplish our goal. By joining Project 10 and sharing your photos and stories, you will not only help yourself, but you will help countless others.

Thank You and Welcome to Project 10
Julia Kim Smith
Co-Founder

© 2008 100 Survivors