A new kind of normal
JC Candanedo uses photography to explore Human Rights, Mental Health and National Identity. What are our Individual rights? What are our Collective rights? What is our relationship with ourselves and the bodies that we inhabit and how is this relationship influenced by the world around us?
Photography by JC Candanedo
When I met Volkan over the internet, I asked him if he would consider posing for me someday. He responded that he would be happy to, but he said that there was something that I should know first. He had a colostomy bag. In his reply, he said that he was happy to have it shown in photos but he thought that I should know first in case I had any questions. He didn’t want me to feel uncomfortable about it.
After reading his text message, I stared at the phone for a few seconds before I replied. I couldn’t help but think about the number of times that he had done the same, waiting to see the other person’s reaction after warning them about his medical appliance.
I texted him back saying that I’m body-positive and that it wouldn’t be a concern. If that appliance saved his life and kept him healthy, I could only feel grateful for it because it allowed me to meet him and photograph him. And that was exactly the answer that he was expecting. He had been to my website and he had seen that my work explores mental health, so he had gathered that I’d be sympathetic about it.
Volkan had colon cancer as a teenager so he had to have his colon removed. His intestine was then brought to the surface of the stomach and out his body through a hole. His body waste is collected in a bag that needs to be changed often. It is a new reality that takes some time to adapt to.
When I asked him about his health he said: “I’m better now. I’m off all my medication, which is nice.” I immediately apologised for all my questions, but he said that he likes to have conversations about it to make people aware and reduce the stigma against medical appliances. “It’s quite hard to talk about it at first,” he said, “because you need to get used to it and feel comfortable with your new body. But I’m in a good place to do that now.”
“It’s quite hard to talk about it at first, because you need to get used to it and feel comfortable with your new body. But I’m in a good place to do that now.”
While photographing him, I kept thinking about our first messages. “Has anyone ever rejected you?”, I asked. “Some people are fine with it. Others have said they’re not attracted or find it weird or disgusting. It didn’t feel great but I got over it!” He said that the hardest thing has been adapting to a new diet. “I can’t eat certain foods that I used to.”
Those who undergo this type of surgery experience at first a negative change in their body image. But Volkan doesn’t see the bag as a limitation anymore, even if it presents its challenges. “Most people say that I’m brave or proud if I do show it off.” For him, his bag doesn’t define him. It is this confidence that makes him even more beautiful.
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