Let Your Scars Shine

“With Let Your Scars Shine we give bodies after breast cancer a stage,” writes dasBUUSENKOLLEKTIV e.V. about its project. It is inspired by the Japanese art of kintsugi, which mends breaks with gold: the scars are not covered up but gilded – as a sign of empowerment and self-determination.

For the project the association asked 24 women to show themselves. They were photographed by the advertising photographer Chap Chaplin; her mother’s death from breast cancer makes the project a matter close to her heart. The exhibition consists of photo panels with a description of the project.

Besides the gallery, “Let Your Scars Shine” has been shown at the 129th German Medical Assembly (Deutscher Ärztetag) in Leipzig in 2025 and at Kreiskrankenhaus Bergstraße in Heppenheim in autumn 2025, among other places. dasBUUSENKOLLEKTIV e.V. was founded by Rhea Seehaus and Lena Gerst, both affected by breast cancer, and is a platform for peer support, community and activism around breast cancer. More at dasbuusenkollektiv.de.