HER2: Alone, Together is an autobiographical visual narrative by photographers Anna and Jordan Rathkopf, exploring how illness reshapes identity, intimacy, and family. When Anna was diagnosed with breast cancer at 37, the couple began photographing their lives—capturing not just the realities of treatment, but the invisible emotional labor of caregiving and survivorship.
At the heart of this work is Anna’s raw self-representation. Her portraits challenge the passivity often projected onto patients, asserting her agency as both subject and storyteller. Jordan’s photographs offer a counterpoint, shaped by the quiet toll of caregiving—the expectation to stay strong, the silence around male vulnerability, and the emotional cost of withholding fear to protect others.
Their son Jesse offers a third gaze—his drawings, photographs and quiet observations reveal how children absorb the emotional weight of illness in ways adults often overlook. His presence threads the story together, reminding us that caregiving is not just spousal—it is a family experience.
Spanning seven years and shaped by Anna’s experience as an immigrant, patient, and mother navigating U.S. healthcare, HER2: Alone, Together invites viewers to consider illness not as an individual burden, but as a deeply shared experience—of diagnosis and caregiving, isolation and connection, fear and fierce love.
Artist Bios
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Anna and Jordan Rathkopf
Anna and Jordan Rathkopf are an award-winning visual storytelling duo whose work explores themes of empathy, health, and identity. Drawing from their personal experiences with cancer and caregiving, they use visual storytelling to capture moments of vulnerability and resilience, fostering meaningful societal conversations about illness and survivorship.
They co-authored _HER2: The Diagnosed, The Caregiver, and Their Son_ (Daylight, 2024), an intimate and powerful narrative that documents the realities of cancer under 50, including its impact on relationships and family dynamics. Their work earned the 2024 Professional Photographic Achievement Award for Visual Storytelling from the International Photographic Council at the United Nations and has been recognized with accolades from Communication Arts, American Photography, American Photographic Artists (APA), and the Communicator Awards.
Through their lens, the Rathkopfs bring authenticity to the stories of survivors and caregivers, highlighting both their own family’s journey and the experiences of others impacted by illness. Their stories serve as a call to action, inspiring conversations and building empathy around some of the most challenging aspects of the human experience.
Organizations
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Photoville
Founded in 2011 in Brooklyn, NY, Photoville was built on the principles of addressing cultural equity and inclusion, which we are always striving for, by ensuring that the artists we exhibit are diverse in gender, class, and race.
In pursuit of its mission, Photoville produces an annual, city-wide open air photography festival in New York City, a wide range of free educational community initiatives, and a nationwide program of public art exhibitions.
By activating public spaces, amplifying visual storytellers, and creating unique and highly innovative exhibition and programming environments, we join the cause of nurturing a new lens of representation.
Through creative partnerships with festivals, city agencies, and other nonprofit organizations, Photoville offers visual storytellers, educators, and students financial support, mentorship, and promotional & production resources, on a range of exhibition opportunities.
For more information about Photoville visit, www.photoville.com
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Patient Caregiver Artist Coalition
Patient Caregiver Artist Coalition (PCAC) uses art and storytelling to illuminate the lived experiences of patients, caregivers, and families. By centering artists with personal connections to illness and care, PCAC fosters empathy, challenges stigma, and sparks conversations that lead to cultural and systemic change. Through exhibitions, public programs, peer support, educational initiatives, and original content, the coalition champions emotionally resonant, inclusive, and authentic representations of illness and survivorship—reimagining how care is seen, valued, and supported across both healthcare and society.
HER2: Alone, Together
Featuring: Anna and Jordan Rathkopf
Locations
View Location Details Brooklyn Bridge Park – Emily Warren Roebling Plaza1 Water St
Brooklyn, NY 11201
This location is part of Brooklyn Bridge Park
Explore other locations and exhibitions nearby
Photography and Text by Anna and Jordan Rathkopf
Read more about the Patient Caregiver Artist Coalition (PCAC) at www.pcac.ngo
The views and opinions expressed in this exhibit are those of the exhibition artists and partners and do not necessarily reflect the views or positions of Photoville or any other participants and partners of the Photoville Festival.
