CASTING CALL: KC BREAST CANCER STORIES
We’re looking for women from the Kansas City area who have experienced breast cancer.
The Breast Cancer Club is updating their website, but doesn’t want stock photos of models in pink shirts.
I’m Mitzi, local photographer and Breast Cancer Club member, and I’m photographing a diverse group of women from our community. I’d love for you to be one of them.
Your portrait could be the thing another woman sees when she’s newly diagnosed and wondering if she’s alone.
Limited sessions available in 2026
I know I didn’t. But it became my path to peace and self-acceptance.
I get it, most people see getting photographed as uncomfortable, scary, or intimidating, especially when you get a life-changing diagnosis or don’t recognize yourself after treatment.
But being photographed (exactly as I am) changed everything for me when I faced breast cancer at the age of 32.
After my bilateral mastectomy in 2022, I went flat. I remember feeling completely disconnected from my body. I didn't feel like the woman I had been before cancer, and I didn't know who I was supposed to be now.
Being photographed without trying to “fix” myself was surprisingly healing, and that experience eventually became the foundation for the way I photograph others. I shifted my decade-long glamour photography career to a new philosophy: Raw Portraits.
I call them Raw Portraits because that's exactly what they are: No pro hair or makeup, no making you smaller or different, and no “fixing.”
Raw Portraits helped me break up with Photoshop, both in photos and in the way I show up in my life.
I guide you through the entire process— all you have to do is show up.
You can feel nervous beforehand and any/every emotion during the shoot. You’re safe, held, and accepted.
I’ve seen it all and I will be honored to see you. (Yeah, see you.)
And don’t worry, I won’t call you a warrior or say, “You’re so brave.”
YOU DON'T HAVE TO FEEL READY TO HAVE YOUR PICTURE TAKEN
LACK OF MODELING EXPERIENCE PREFERRED
Trust me, I specialize in photographing “unphotogenic” people and my superpower is making you feel comfortable in front of the camera (after all, that’s all photogenic means).
Just trust fall, I’ll catch you.
WHY YOUR FACE MATTERS
We don’t need to see more stock photography models on medical brochures. We need portraits of our community, because that’s the heart of The Breast Cancer Club.
So we're looking for people of different ages, races, genders, body types, backgrounds, and breast cancer experiences for the website.
You don’t need a certain kind of story that’s wrapped up with a pretty pink bow.
You just need to be willing to show up.
Your Session is my gift to you
WHAT’S INCLUDED ($950 value)
As a thank-you for helping represent the Kansas City breast cancer community, I'm gifting you the Raw Portrait experience and your favorite portrait. Your experience ($950 value) includes:
Your Raw Portrait session — $650 value
We'll spend a couple hours together in my downtown Kansas City studio, and I'll guide you through the entire session. You don't need to know how to pose or what to do in front of the camera.
Your favorite portrait — $300 value
Immediately after we shoot, we'll look through your images together and choose your favorite
You'll receive your portrait as a high-resolution digital file plus an 8x10 archival print to keep.
If you'd like additional portraits or artwork, you're welcome to purchase them. For every 2026 session booked through this project, I'll donate a portion of those purchases to the Breast Cancer Club here in Kansas City. Your participation can help create the images the Club needs and help support the work they're doing in our community.
We're looking for women in the Kansas City area who have experienced breast cancer. Whether you’re newly diagnosed, finished treatment years ago, had any type of surgery, lumpectomy, or none at all… Whether you want to share your story or are sick of talking about it — You belong here.
We're intentionally looking for a wide range of women because breast cancer doesn't have one face.
WHO SHOULD APPLY?
Do you have a beating heart? Do you want to be a part of something bigger? Great. I’d love to photograph you. (And I don’t photograph professional models — I photograph souls.)
LACK OF MODELING EXPERIENCE PREFERRED
Your portrait could help another Kansas City woman find the Breast Cancer Club when she needs it. Think of a time you recognized yourself in someone else’s story… isn’t it powerful?
And maybe being photographed will give you a chance to see yourself a little differently, too. People tell me all the time it’s the best thing they ever did for themselves.
So, you in? I’d love to photograph you.
WHY YOU SHOULD TAKE PART
Real reviews from “unphotogenic” people
“I felt held, listened to, and free to be myself. It was the most incredible experience - I recommend it to everyone.”
- Sally
“Mitzi shows you the parts of you that everyone in your life loves most. And by the end of your session, you love those parts too."
- Eric
“This was so much fun to be able to lose the insecurities and dance as though nobody was watching. I am more than a diagnosis. I am a mother, daughter, sister, and friend. funny, smart, and snarky. I am ME.”
- Ramona
WHAT TO EXPECT
Before your session
You'll get a simple prep guide with everything you need to know about what to wear and what to expect.
Your session
I’ll photograph you in my downtown Kansas City studio in the Power & Light Building. I’ve got parking for you, and I'll direct you the entire time.
Immediately Afterward
We'll look at your portraits together and choose your favorite, plus more if you choose to purchase artwork.
Your gifted portrait
You'll receive a high-resolution digital file and an 8x10 archival print of your favorite image.
Location
Mitzi Starkweather Photography
Power & Light Building
Downtown Kansas City, Missouri