Book of Breasts Raises Cancer Awareness

Journalists Nicola Smith, Jamie Smith and graphic designer Sara Pugh, came up with the concept after Nicola had a breast cancer scare earlier this year.

The book, cheekily titled the Uplifting Book of Breasts, brings together the quirky ideas of artists, illustrators, photographers and writers from Cornwall and beyond as it takes a celebratory look at the business of boobs.

Looking beyond the painful mental and physical effects of this potentially fatal disease, the team decided the book should be a celebration of one of the finer aspects of the female form rather than about the cancer it is helping to fight.

“Thankfully, my experience turned out to be a false alarm,” said Nicola who lives in Falmouth, “I was anxious while waiting for my results and it was a very sobering insight into what people who don’t get happy results go through.

"It certainly focused my mind and, when I got the all clear, I decided I wanted to do something positive to help.

“The book was an abstract concept that may never have seen the light of day without the efforts of a devoted team,” she added.

“Somehow it has transformed into a living, breathing thing that has captured the imaginations of many people along the way. One very moving aspect has been the many individuals – contributors to distributors – who contacted us with their own experiences of breast cancer – this has been a powerful force driving many to get involved in the project.

“This disease has touched so many people in so many different ways. While the book is a celebration of this very special part of the anatomy, it is rooted in a number of very personal traumas and tragedies.”

Jamie said: “At the beginning of the summer we fired arrows in all directions as we were looking for contributors and also for people to help us with the production and distribution of the book.

"The response was amazing. Soon it became clear the book was just the tip of something a lot bigger – it doubled in size both of format and thickness then exploded to include a launch event, website, an exhibition of works from the book and an auction.

“The creative direction of the project has been driven by the standard and variety of contributions that have flooded in. When the book is launched a special page on its website will be devoted to those who have contributed. Many quirky contributions have come in but they are being kept under wraps until nearer the launch.”

Sara, who graduated in graphic design from Falmouth College four years ago and is the book’s designer, said: “To say the response has been amazing would be an understatement. We have not had to persuade anyone to get involved; people have been queuing to help out, which has been heart-warming.

"We have really high hopes for The Uplifting Book of Breasts and urge people to buy it when it comes out in October. We hope it will do exactly what is says on the cover – in fact we challenge people not to feel uplifted once they’ve got their hands on a copy."

The Uplifting Book of Breasts will be published in limited edition and will be on sale from October 6, 2005, with a cover price of £5.

Copies can be ordered via the website www.upliftingbookofbreasts.com