Another Point-of-View

Fayiedda was diagnosed with cancer about 10 months back. She had endured many sessions of chemotherapy and countless difficulties before finally coming back to work. It was a good thing that during her "doa-selamat kenduri", she was willing to share her experiences with everyone about her ordeal. It was something that I was really looking forward to.

I have roughly a general idea of what she must have gone through from my experiences working in a hospital in England a few years ago. Oncology was one of the wards where people working on the cleaning crew dreaded the most. It was not because of the many menial tasks a cleaner was suppose to do once in oncology (it was a given "occupational hazard") but however I think, we were mostly dismayed at the gloom and bleak atmosphere of the surrounding space. Personally, there was a stench of impending doom whenever I walk through the hallway leading to the big double doors into the ward.

Don't get me wrong, The Royal United Hospital of Bath has the most advance oncology medical team available in the south-west of England, but cancer in general is a medical equivalent of having one foot in the grave as far as most doctors are concern. As I recall, talking to the nurses and consultants and being inquisitive of things that are foreign to me had equipped me with the notion that the "William Budd Oncology Ward" was the last place a cancer patient would want to be in – due to the mortality rate churn out by the statisticians of the NHS. It was a place where hope of survival was not benchmarked upon how advance treatment was, but much rather on how much a patient's will to survive and "fight-on" was. During Fayiedda's experience sharing, she talked about how this single factor alone had helped her through her ordeal and how a patient had died from the lack of it. I truly respect her point of view and took a step back to remember those faces in William Budd that I once knew many years ago.

I wanted to capture her new zest towards life. I wanted to show, in my final print, her appreciation of how valuable this "second chance to live" by God is to her. I took my position right in front of her, barely a few feet away. She talked with much gusto and her words were strong but yet subtle. As she shared her story, I snapped away, making sure that I was not in her way. As it was indoors, I have no choice but to use my flash-gun to get the job done right. My aim was to do minimal editing so I had to get the setting on my camera right the first time. I metered my exposure mode to "spot-metering". Her white clothes would make and interesting highlight in a mono image as I planned carefully for one. I took many but I decided to choose this particular because it shows how healthy and energetic she is now. I guess Friedrich Nietzsche quote "that which does not kill us makes us stronger" is true. Well done Fayiedda and welcome back!