NHL, 2007

In 2007, two months after giving birth to my daughter, I was diagnosed with a serious disease, non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL). Without discussing the disease in detail, it is important to note that this cancer is highly treatable; however, of course the treatment includes chemotherapy and radiotherapy. After the first terrible shock I came up with the idea: why not document the whole story? It was much better than keep asking myself why it happened to me. (Because obviously there is no answer.) So I started to take pictures of myself in different situations, during the treatments, at home, so I could follow the changes of my health conditions. 

I wanted to (re)interpret it through photography, and such, make sense out of this absurd situation. Photography was a real treatment to me, because I could concentrate on myself in a different way, not as a sick person, but the protagonist of my photo series. 

For me it was a true experiment and a way to process a new life situation through new methods. I documented these months in my life without knowing what tomorrow might bring or what direction the disease eventually take.

Hermann Ildi