I was a bit apprehensive on Monday when a mini film crew turned up at the gallery to make a (very) short film from the evening. I absolutely hate being filmed and seeing myself in any kind of film so even doing a two minute interview was a lot for me. I’m glad the guys from Light Geist did come down though, it’s nice seeing some video from the night. Christopher has been shooting some film too, so hopefully we’ll have another little mini film up soonish.

Doesn’t Agy look beautiful?

On Monday we opened the exhibition to the public. We were totally overwhelmed by how many people turned up! It was absolutely rammed and we had a real assortment of attendees. Artists, students, doctors, PHD students, psychotherapists, people affected by alopecia and breast cancer, friends, charity sponsors, outreach workers, volunteers. Everyone had a great night and it was lovely to have some models from the projects there too. Here’s various photos, not all mine, that I’ve managed to find…

Here’s some behind the scenes photos of us hanging the show. It went really smoothly – Agata and I are pretty laid back. After a few hours we’d curated and organised, and then two (very competent DIY-ers) hung the images for us. I don’t trust myself with a spirit level! I was really impressed with the printing from our sponsor Metro and once it was all up I just kept grinning. 18 months of prep, 6 months of exhibition planning and it all came together so easily.

(my blog’s been down for a week or so I’ve got a few backdated posts)

Agy and I went on a mystery tour around the London Underground finding our posters. We’re pretty proud of these. They had a really positive impact and a lot of people have been coming into the gallery saying that they saw the posters on the tube and that was what enticed them to come along. Here we are looking pretty smug!

I got a new computer last week. It’s the first time I’ve ever had all of my drives plugged in, giving me instant access to my digital archive of photos from 2002 – present day. Unfortunately I lost a few shoots from the end of 2011 due to a hard drive failure (which makes me very sad, data recovery didn’t bring anything back). It’s incredible though, being able to click a few times and be instantly transported to a specific date over the last decade. So we may be taking quite a few trips down memory lane over the next couple of months…

This is just a photo of a fat black cat that used to hang around C’s old house. It was taken on a sunny day on the patio, a day which made me smile.

23^rd May, 2010.

Hurrah! Our wonderful posters designed by Chris Kelly for the Uncovered exhibition are up all around central London. You can spot them in the following locations:

ANGEL CORRIDOR 1
EUSTON PLATFORM 5
FARRINGDON PLATFORM 1
KINGS CROSS ST.PANCRAS PLATFORM 7
LIVERPOOL STREET PLATFORM 4
OLD STREET PLATFORM 2

I’ve still not seen them in the flesh yet, but Christopher managed to snap these. I’m so proud!

May 23^rd, 2010.

Woohoo! The posters for the Uncovered exhibition are up on the London underground and the sightings are starting to trickle in. These two are at Liverpool Street and Euston station. Agata and I will do a little tour tomorrow to get some proper photos. It’s all coming together rather nicely. I’m beginning to get a little nervous now!

There’s an interview in the Camden New Journal with myself and Agata Cardoso about our upcoming Uncovered exhibition.

Published: 3 May, 2012
by ANDREW JOHNSON

Television and magazines have much to answer for with their airbrushed examples of impossible beauty, make-up artists and stylists making even the average look somehow alluring.

Women – and increasingly men – are feeding a multi-million pound diet and beauty industry, provoked in part by the resulting insecurities about their looks and body image.

For some women with conditions such as alopecia or breast cancer, however, society’s judgments on beauty can have devastating consequences on self-esteem and confidence.

Photographers Daniel Regan and Agata Cardoso are addressing the taboos surrounding these issues in an exhibition in Clerkenwell which opens next week.

Both worked independently before meeting by chance and deciding to mount the exhibition. And both struggled initially to win the trust of their subjects.

Daniel explains that he became interested in alopecia – a condition which causes hair loss – when he met a woman called Nataleigh.

“When I first met her I didn’t know she had alopecia,” he says. “She wore a wig. I generally look at people to see if they’d make a good photo. She had the most striking eyes so I asked if I could photograph her, and added that I thought she had amazing hair. When she said it wasn’t hers I was confused at first.

“But we hit it off. I wasn’t intending to do a project on alopecia.”

At first Daniel, who lives in Finsbury Park, had trouble finding other women with alopecia who would allow themselves to be photographed.

Adverts went unanswered and appeals on charity websites were well read but still women were reluctant to come forward.

Eventually one of the trustees of the charity Alopecia UK contacted him and offered to help.

“Within two weeks 10 or 11 people came forward,” he said. “You sometimes need a vetting process in order for people to trust you. Society puts a huge amount of emphasis on what women’s hair looks like, so it is very traumatic for women to lose their hair. The only way to desensitise people is by exposure.

“As a society we’re not used to seeing women without hair or eyelashes. Although it is not damaging to physical health, alopecia can have destructive effects on a person’s confidence and self-esteem and there is currently no known cure.”

On May 19 there will be a talk at the exhibition by the photographers and charities will offer advice on what to do and where to go for people with the condition.

David added: “The most distressing story I heard was an English woman who had lived in Australia for 20 years. Some women tattoo eyebrows on but this woman wore hair eyebrows and a wig. She said the wig was insufferably hot in Australia, but she even wore it when she was at home in case any of her neighbours saw her. Even her closest friends didn’t realise she had alopecia.”

Agata Cardoso, who lives in Camden Town, says that she had similar difficulties to Daniel in finding subjects for her project on breast cancer. And, like her colleague, the project came about by accident.

“I started in 2006 when my mother was diagnosed with breast cancer,” she says. “I started documenting her experience and my role in looking after her. That developed into an interest with my family’s history with the disease and I went to Portugal to photograph my aunts.”

On her return Agata realised the project had developed and she tried to contact other women who had undergone surgical mastectomies.

“I had very little help from charities at first,” she says. “They were very worried about it being sensationalised because of the way it’s often represented in the media. The women felt very ugly. I wanted to bring out the beauty of women after surgery.”

Eventually she managed to document 20 women, one of whom has since died.

“I believe its very much a taboo subject,” she adds. “We’re just not used to seeing the reality of a woman who’s had a mastectomy. It’s buried under the carpet and I believe that’s wrong.

“These women are being marginalised and it’s not fair. We live in a culture that worships youth and an idealised beauty – we are not used to being confronted with physical disfigurement which is a reality for women who have had breast cancer.

“They have no one to look up to because the media doesn’t represent reality.”

• Uncovered: an exhibition exploring body image by Daniel Regan and Agata Cardoso is at the Frameless Gallery, 20 Clerkenwell Green, EC1, from May 14-20, 07974 976736, www. framelessgallery.com

I can’t remember how I became aware of Esther’s photographs last year. She had a show in south London and I meant to get down to the private view but couldn’t make it. She then contacted me after seeing my work with the Katie Piper Foundation.

A couple of weeks ago we met up and talked about working together on a long-term project together and these images are some from our first day of collaborative shooting together. You should definitely check out her self-portraits on her website – they’re incredibly beautiful and emotive. I absolutely adore her work.

Esther’s portfolio: www.esthersabetpour.com

Here’s a quote from Esther’s website about what happened to her in 2010:

Esther’s most recent project emerged from a traumatic yet profound accident suffered by the artist on 23rd of August 2010. It left 45% of her body badly scarred, scattered with 3rd to 4th degree burns, 5 fractures and a brain injury resulting in amnesia. Esther began by documenting her experience of recovery. This therapeutic journey began in isolation within a hospital burns unit and continued until the end of summer 2010 – the outcome was her most compelling self-portraits to date.

I’m absolutely fascinated by scars and I find Esther’s body really interesting. I think it’s so important to find beauty in other forms and seeing and photographing Esther’s body is like discovering a new physical landscape to photograph. Plus she’s super nice.